Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier and a Victoria Cross recipient, has been charged with five counts of war crime murder over alleged killings in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. He was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday and is due to face court, with each charge carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison. ⁣ ⁣ Police allege the Afghan victims were unarmed, detained and not taking part in hostilities when they were killed, either by Roberts-Smith or by subordinates acting on his orders. The case is part of a long-running joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. ⁣ ⁣ Roberts-Smith has consistently denied wrongdoing and has long maintained his innocence. His arrest comes after he lost a landmark defamation case against Nine newspapers in 2023, but that was a civil case decided on the balance of probabilities, not the criminal standard now before the court. ⁣ ⁣ #A...