The Australian Federal Police (AFP) statement reported that 47-year-old former soldier Roberts-Smith was arrested at Sydney Airport.
The statement said Roberts-Smith faces five separate counts of “murder in the commission of a war crime” for allegedly killing unarmed people while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, and that the maximum penalty for those crimes is life in prison.
The statement recalled that a total of 53 files were opened as part of the investigation, noting that in 39 of them the ongoing investigations were closed due to insufficient evidence being found, and in 10 files the proceedings are continuing.
Roberts-Smith, who is the recipient of Australia's highest military honor and left the army in 2013, is described as “the country's most decorated former soldier”.
The Inspector General of the Australian Defense Force (IGADF) also previously investigated allegations that soldiers serving in Afghanistan had committed war crimes.
In its report published in November 2020, the IGADF revealed that 39 Afghan civilians were killed by soldiers.
In 2023, Roberts-Smith lost the libel lawsuit she filed against various newspapers and journalists following reports that she committed war crimes during her deployment to Afghanistan.
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