A special forces soldier has told a court that Ben Roberts-Smith bragged that shooting an unarmed and terrified adolescent Afghan man was 'the most beautiful thing I've ever seen':
Ben Roberts-Smith is suing The Age, Federal Capital Press and Fairfax Media over reports linking him to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.Ben Roberts-Smith bragged that shooting an unarmed and terrified adolescent Afghan man was "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen", a special forces soldier has told a court.
He distinctly remembers one of two men he pulled out to pat down because he appeared a lot younger than the rest and was "shaking in terror," he said.A short time later Mr Roberts-Smith's patrol collected the two detainees, to tactically question them, Person 16 "assumed"."What happened to that young fella who was shaking like a leaf?" he said he asked Mr Roberts-Smith.
Person 16 told the court while he was "shocked" at what Mr Roberts-Smith had said to him, he never reported it due to a "code of silence within the regiment".He also said he was worried for his personal safety, and did not want to put himself in danger by accusing "someone so influential".The body of the Afghan was photographed with an AK-47 gun that was placed on him later, Person 16 said.
Person 14 last week said he saw Mr Roberts-Smith order an Afghan soldier through an interpreter to shoot a detainee "or I will" towards the end of a mission in Khaz Uruzgan in 2012.
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