SYDNEY: An Australian former soldier charged with committing war crimes in Afghanistan vowed on Sunday (April 19) to clear his name, saying he had never "run from a fight" in his first public comments since his arrest.
"For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I've acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan," Ben Roberts-Smith told journalists in Gold Coast.
"I categorically deny all of these allegations, and while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name," he said.
Roberts-Smith was granted bail on Friday after a high-profile arrest on five counts of "war crime -- murder". Police alleged he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.
The Victoria Cross recipient has denied all the charges.
He was released from prison on Friday evening after 10 days behind bars.
"I'm proud of my service in Afghanistan. While I was there, I always acted within my values," he said on Sunday.
Australia's most decorated living soldier met Queen Elizabeth II, had his portrait hung at the Australian War Museum and was even honoured as the nation's "father of the year".
But the war hero's reputation was called into question in 2018, when a series of news reports linked him to the alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.
The soldier allegedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic limb which he later used as a drinking vessel with other soldiers.
Roberts-Smith has staunchly maintained his innocence throughout, launching legal action against the newspapers who aired the allegations.
But his efforts to sue The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for slander would backfire, with a judge finding in 2023 many of the journalists' claims were "substantially true".
Such civil trials carry a lower burden of proof than the criminal proceedings Roberts-Smith now faces.
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups. - AFP
