Ben Roberts-Smith loses war crimes defamation case against newspapers | SBS News
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Published 2023-05-31
Justice Anthony Besanko handed down the verdict on Thursday afternoon, in which he ruled that three newspapers - the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times – and journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Rowe had not defamed Mr Roberts-Smith in a series of articles published in 2018.
Justice Besanko read out a summary of each of the defamatory imputations alleged by Mr Roberts-Smith, and the defences which relied on the truth of the allegations which were mounted by the defendants. He found that the defendants had proved that some of the most serious allegations of war crimes were true.
Mr Roberts-Smith was not charged over any of the alleged conduct and no findings have been made against him in a criminal court.
For more on this story visit: www.sbs.com.au/news/article/justice-anthony-besank…
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