SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian court on Monday began hearing the appeal of a decorated war hero, who is fighting a court defamation ruling that found media groups had proven their reports he played a part in the unlawful killings of four Afghans in Afghanistan.
Former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, who won Australia's highest military honour the Victoria Cross for his actions in Afghanistan, had sued three Nine Entertainment newspapers and their journalists over articles that accused him of killing unarmed Afghan civilians outside the rules of war.
