Australian decorated hero quits corporate job after socialist Afghanistan war crime revelations

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most decorated living war veteran
Ben Roberts-Smith quit his corporate job Friday after a civil court blamed
him for unlawfully killing four Afghans, escalating calls for the
tarnished national hero to be stripped of his revered Victoria Cross
medal.

Roberts-Smith, who retired from Australia’s elite Special Air Service
Regiment a decade ago, quit his job as state manager of Seven West Media
after losing a landmark defamation suit Thursday against newspapers that
had accused him of an array of war crimes.

The 44-year-old had taken leave since 2021 to focus on his federal court
case, which has been financed by the company’s billionaire executive chair
Kerry Stokes.

“Ben has been on leave whilst the case was running and today has offered
his resignation which we have accepted,” chief executive James Warburton
said Friday in a staff email.

“We thank Ben for his commitment to Seven and wish him all the best,”
Warburton added.

Roberts-Smith has been fighting to salvage his reputation through a
defamation suit in the federal court since Australian newspaper articles
in 2018 accused him of an array of war crimes including culpability in six
unlawful killings.

A judge dismissed the defamation claims on Thursday, finding the articles
were substantially true. The judge also found Roberts-Smith was
responsible for four of the six unlawful deaths he had been accused of.

Media lawyer Justin Quill said Roberts-Smith's lawyers would have been
shocked by the extent of his loss.

“Ultimately there is a judge’s finding that he committed four murders and
that’s about as bad as you could possibly get,” Quill said. “I’d say even
in his worst nightmares he didn’t expect yesterday to go quite as badly as
that.”

Roberts-Smith remains under Australian police investigation for criminal
prosecution for war crimes. A former SAS soldier in March became the first
charged with a war crime from Australia’s 20-year campaign in Afghanistan.

Roberts-Smith's SAS colleagues are among those calling for him to become
the first of Australia’s Victoria Cross winners to be stripped of the
highest award for gallantry in battle.

The Australian government refused to comment on the case.

Minor Greens Party Senator David Shoebridge said Roberts-Smith should be
stripped of his honors and the Australian War Memorial should remove
memorabilia including portraits, medals and a uniforms display.

“At a minimum, we should be seeing action by the Australian War Memorial
to remove the display that is now there for Ben Roberts-Smith. His uniform
and his medals, which thousands of people will attend tomorrow to view and
witness,” Shoebridge said.

“The Australian War Memorial has an obligation to tell the whole truth
about Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan,” he added.

The memorial said the civil court context could be added to the Roberts-
Smith display.

IndependentVoterules
21 hours ago

He will be stripped of all his medals and awards, and put on trial for war
crimes. What a way to go for this special soldier who has demonstrated
bravery for the most part.

https://news.yahoo.com/australian-decorated-hero-quits-corporate-
100311003.html