Australia’s most ornate soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s ‘trial of the century’ resumes with his ex-wife and friend expected to testify against her as well as Special Forces soldiers
- Ben Roberts-Smith defamation ‘trial of the century’ to resume on Wednesday
- War hero trial WA . has been sidelined by the lockdown and border changes in
- Roberts-Smith sued over war crimes charges leveled by The Age and SMH
Ben Roberts-Smith’s marquee defamation lawsuit resumed after it is halted lockdown In Sydney, border change in Western Australia, talk of relocating Adelaide And several legal edge clashes.
War hero lawsuit against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan Was put on hold in July due to COVID-19 complications.
Recent changes to WA’s border policies created more difficulties, with media outlets reluctant to call witnesses, who would be forced into a fortnight’s quarantine after testifying in Sydney.
Ben Roberts-Smith’s marquee defamation lawsuit set to resume after Sydney lockdown, Western Australia border changes, talk of relocating to Adelaide and several legal sideline clashes
The war hero’s trial against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan was halted in July due to COVID-19 complications (pictured, ex-wife Emma Roberts).
Instead, the outlets are expected to convene on Wednesday the first of 15 witnesses who do not live in the West.
These will include ex-wife Emma Roberts and her close friend Danielle Scott.
Witnesses appearing in the defendants’ case include federal lawmaker and former Special Forces soldier Andrew Hasty.
Mr. Roberts-Smith is suing news outlets over 2018 articles that he says portrayed him as a criminal who violated ethical and legal rules of military engagement during his deployment to Afghanistan with the SAS. did.
He is also suing over claims of assault on a woman in Canberra.
The former SAS corporal denies all charges against him while the newspapers are defending the truth.
The trial has so far heard evidence from Mr. Roberts-Smith, former Liberal politician Brendan Nelson and several Afghan villagers.
During the pause in the trial, the Victoria Cross recipient has had mixed results in a legal battle over access to documents and possible interrogation.
He was given access to emails between media outlets and a Special Forces soldier, known as Person 56, who accompanied Ben Roberts-Smith during an alleged war crime.
Mr. Roberts-Smith also succeeded in keeping secret the investigative report of a freelance journalist in ‘all allegations and rumours’ about the former soldier he had commissioned.
But he lost a bid for his lawyers to question his ex-wife in a related case about confidential information in an email account, after claims that his friend Daniel Scott had accessed the war hero’s password-protected account earlier in the year. Accessed 101 times and leading in one-half test.
Recent changes to WA’s border policies created more difficulties, with media outlets reluctant to call witnesses, who would be forced into a fortnight’s quarantine after testifying in Sydney.
Mr. Roberts-Smith is suing news outlets over 2018 articles that they say portrayed him as a criminal who violated ethical and legal rules of military engagement during his deployment to Afghanistan with the SAS. (pictured, Mr Roberts-Smith being greeted by the Queen during an audience at Buckingham Palace in 2011)
Her lawyers alleged that Ms Roberts gained access to confidential correspondence about her defamation case and an email account used by the Australian Defense Force’s Inspector General for war crimes investigations.
Justice Robert Bromwich found against Mr. Roberts-Smith in January.
The judge said Mr Roberts-Smith failed to prove “substantial grounds” to investigate Ms Roberts in court over the distribution of any information obtained from the RS Group email account.
Justice Bromwich said there were also insufficient grounds for implicating Ms Scott and her husband Darren Pill in the action.
The judge said, in his view, Mr. Roberts-Smith’s case ‘failed to go beyond bare possibilities and doubts, falsely showing many such claims in relation to Ms. Roberts.’
The claims against Ms Scott were ‘equally false’.
Justice Bromwich ruled, “Mr. Roberts-Smith’s negotiating application for examination of Ms. Roberts, and her negotiating application to join Ms. Scott and her husband, must be dismissed.”
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Mr. Roberts-Smith lost a bid for his lawyers to question his ex-wife in a related case about confidential information in an email account, after claims his friend Danielle Scott had accessed the war hero’s password-protected account. Accessed 101 times a year Leading in-and-Half Testing
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