Ben Roberts-Smith to face five murder charges

The Australian Federal Police announced that Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to face five counts of murder relating to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

The move follows a joint investigation between the AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator, marking what officials describe as a "significant step" in a long-running probe.

At a press conference in Sydney, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett stated that the charges relate to the deaths of Afghan nationals between 2009 and 2012.

It will be alleged that the victims were unarmed, detained, and under the control of ADF personnel when they were killed.

"The offence of war crime—murder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment", Commissioner Barrett noted, adding that the victims were allegedly shot by the accused or by subordinates acting on his direct orders.

Ross Barnett, director of the OSI, underscored the "incredibly complex" nature of the investigation, which involved gathering evidence from a war zone 9,000km away that is no longer accessible to Australian authorities.

Without access to crime scenes, post-mortems, or forensic ballistic data, investigators have had to rely heavily on battlefield photography, contemporary ADF reporting, and third-party eyewitness testimony.

Despite the "protracted" and "challenging" circumstances of the enquiry, Barnett emphasised that the seriousness of the charges demanded a rigorous approach while maintaining that the accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence until determined otherwise by a court.