Witnesses who took the stand in the defamation trial were badly rattled by the cross-examination that questioned their stories.
Special forces veterans have lashed out at war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith over courtroom attacks on his fellow soldiers in the witness box in which they were labelled as cowards, liars or mentally unwell.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially for a country that’s believed the lies for so long. But in the [Special Air Service] Regiment, we’d much prefer those hard truths over those comforting fantasies,” the Afghanistan veteran said. Miller served with several of the SAS witnesses who testified and said they displayed physical courage in fighting for their country and moral courage in exposing a war hero whoMiller also warned of ongoing efforts to deride veterans who testified honestly about Roberts-Smith.
For years, Roberts-Smith has claimed the war crimes allegations were invented by jealous rivals in the SAS and published to harm his subsequent employer, Seven West Media. Justice Besanko cautioned Moses about his use of a belittling or insulting tone during the cross-examination of another SAS veteran.
An exhibit in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case, showing the village of Darwan. The “X” marked with “B” and an arrow is the cliff from which Ali Jan was kicked by Roberts-Smith. “There were two soldiers who dragged Ali Jan by his arms while his hands were handcuffed behind him, to the corn field, where many shots were fired,” he said.
The trial also highlighted how senior SAS figures had failed to act on internal military complaints that Roberts-Smith had gone rogue, Soldier Y said.
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