‘Top secret’ orders in Ben Roberts-Smith case
More than 200 court orders have been made to protect top secret material being handled in the criminal proceedings of veteran SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.
National security concerns have been cited in court orders made to protect classified material in accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith’s looming trial.
Roberts-Smith was arrested in April and charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
The classified nature of operations in Afghanistan has delayed the criminal proceedings, which inched forward at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.
“[There is] a risk of prejudice to national security,” barrister Jennifer Single SC, representing the Commonwealth, said.
Single handed over applications for 206 court orders under the National Security Information Act that concerned the disclosure, storage, protection, handling and destruction of classified material and evidence.
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It allows Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, to be handed the full suite of evidence against him that was previously withheld due to its sensitive nature.
Judge Susan Horan said the orders were quite long but necessary for a fair trial for the decorated former SAS soldier.
However, the prosecution had concerns.
Crown prosecutor Julia Wang said accessing Australian Defence Force information and engaging with people who had no appropriate security clearance could cause further delays,
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Roberts-Smith’s solicitor Karen Espiner told the court that he agreed to how the classified documents should be handled.
The court also varied Roberts-Smith’s bail conditions to allow him to relocate and live with family in Queensland long-term and report to a nearby police station twice a week, instead of a NSW police station.
Roberts-Smith, who contests the charges, was absent from the media-packed courtroom on Tuesday.
Australia’s most decorated living soldier is accused of machine-gunning an Afghan prisoner Mohammed Essa and ordering the execution of his son Ahmadullah.
The then-SAS soldier allegedly placed firearms on the bodies to falsely claim they were enemy combatants, according to court documents.
In August 2012 at the village of Darwan, Roberts-Smith is accused of kicking a hand-cuffed Ali Jan off a 10-metre cliff before ordering that he be dragged over a creek bed and shot.
Two months later at Syahchow, he allegedly lined up two prisoners in a corn field, shooting one of them with another soldier.
Roberts-Smith has stated he will use the upcoming trial to clear his name.
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-with AAP
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