Police have arrested the primary Australian veteran for an alleged homicide in Afghanistan three years after a conflict crime investigation discovered that 19 Australian particular forces troopers might face prices for unlawful conduct throughout the battle
ByROD McGUIRK Related Press
CANBERRA, Australia — Police on Monday arrested the primary Australian veteran for an alleged homicide in Afghanistan three years after a conflict crime investigation discovered that 19 Australian particular forces troopers might face prices for unlawful conduct throughout the battle.
A 41-year-old man was arrested in New South Wales state and will likely be charged with the conflict crime of homicide, an Australian Federal Police assertion mentioned.
“Will probably be alleged he murdered an Afghan man whereas deployed to Afghanistan,” the assertion mentioned. The person was recognized by Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Information Corp as former Particular Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz.
ABC broadcast helmet digicam video in 2020 of a soldier it mentioned was Schulz taking pictures an Afghan man in 2012 in a wheat discipline in Uruzgan province.
He faces a possible sentence of life in jail if convicted.
Police are working with the Workplace of the Particular Investigator, an Australian investigation company established in 2021, to construct instances towards elite SAS and Commando Regiments troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
A army report launched in 2020 after a four-year investigation discovered proof that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians. The report beneficial 19 present and former troopers face legal investigation.
Benjamin Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most extremely embellished member of the armed providers when he left the SAS in 2013, has been accused by former colleagues of illegal therapy of prisoners, together with unlawful killings. The previous corporal, who was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, has denied any misconduct.
His year-long defamation trial towards The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Occasions newspapers resulted in July 2022 however a judgment has but to be introduced.
Greater than 39,000 Australian army personnel served in Afghanistan throughout the 20 years till the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 have been killed there.