Ben Roberts-Smith: Top Australian soldier loses war crimes defamation case

Australia's most-decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has lost a historic defamation case against three newspapers that accused him of war crimes in Afghanistan.

The outlets were sued over articles alleging he killed unarmed prisoners.

The civil trial was the first time a court has assessed accusations of war crimes by Australian forces.

A judge said four of the six murder allegations - all denied by the soldier - were substantially true. read more