A soldier witness called by Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation trial has told the federal court he liked social media posts that called an Afghan civilian allegedly murdered by Australian soldiers a “terrorist paedo”, and lawyers involved in the case “fuckwits” and “cunts”.
The court heard the former SAS soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 35, liked an Instagram post that said:
“Fun Facts: Ali Jan and the gentleman that met Soldier C were both Taliban, and, by default, terrorist p3dos.”
The post says: #nothingofvaluewaslost
The newspapers allege Ali Jan was an Afghan farmer detained by Australian soldiers during a raid on the village of Darwan in September 2012. They allege Ben Roberts-Smith kicked Ali Jan off a cliff while handcuffed and blindfolded before ordering him shot.
Roberts-Smith has denied the allegation, saying that a man killed on the mission was an enemy “spotter” legitimately killed in accordance with the rules of engagement. In his evidence, he said “there was no cliff … there was no kick”.
Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports he alleges were defamatory and portrayed him as committing war crimes, including murder.
The newspapers are pleading a defence of truth. Roberts-Smith denies any wrongdoing.
Soldier C, referred to in the Instagram post, was an Australian SAS soldier, unrelated to this case, filmed shooting an unarmed Afghan civilian lying in a field, the court was told by the newspapers’ barrister on Thursday. That man’s death is not part of this defamation trial.
Under cross-examination, Person 35 said he resented the public scrutiny of Roberts-Smith’s actions in Afghanistan, without broader interrogation of the strategy and prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.
“If you’re going to question a soldier about what happened overseas, then you need to question the military about what happened overseas,” he said.
“I find it upsetting his conduct is being scrutinised.”
Person 35 also liked an Instagram post that said:
“When some fuckwit in a suit starts using his fucktard snake logic he learned getting his tonsils bruised by some lecturer’s spotty dick at their non-binary law school, remember one thing: that this cunt will be one of the first to be held down and drowned in a muddy puddle for his fancy jacket.
“When society crumbles, it will be thanks to him and people like him thinking we all live on fucking Sesame Street and everyone adhering to their putrid way of thinking. Like my boy, Rorschach said, the accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists, and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout, ‘save us’ and I’ll whisper, ‘no’.”
Hermann Rorschach, the Swiss psychoanalyst, did not say those words. The quotes are from a fictional antihero character of the same name in the comic book series and film Watchmen.
Person 35 said he “liked a lot of posts” on Instagram and other social media posts, as “a bit of dark humour … I don’t think it should be taken seriously”.
During a tense exchange, Nicholas Owens SC, acting for the newspapers, put it to Person 35 the “fuckwit” in a fancy jacket was him. Person 35 denied he was talking about Owens specifically.
“That’s a joke,” Person 35 said. “It’s meant to be funny, and it’s meant to agitate and it seems to have worked.”
Person 35 gave evidence about a 2012 party at the SAS’s unofficial on-base bar in Afghanistan, the Fat Ladies’ Arms. He told the court he dressed up as a Ku Klux Klansman because he didn’t want to pay for a costume ordered by mail, and could make the costume himself.
Pictures from the party show him in the Klan costume, holding a burning cross.
He said he was not reprimanded for wearing the costume. Instead, he told the court: “I won the fancy dress competition that night.
“I knew one other person was coming in blackface so I thought it would be funny if I came as a Klansman … [to] make fun of the Klan itself, they are pretty pathetic, I was just making a joke about it.”
Regarding the allegation that Roberts-Smith murdered Ali Jan in Darwan in 2012, Person 35 said he did not believe Roberts-Smith kicked Ali Jan off a cliff, but conceded before court he was not present at the final compound cleared during the mission.
“I know my friend Ben, and I know he wouldn’t do that,” Person 35 said.
“I can speak to the man’s character yes, and I don’t believe he did that, I do not. Was I in that last compound? No, I was not there.”
Person 35 said he supported Roberts-Smith, who he regarded as a friend, but denied a suggestion from Owens he was a partisan witness.
“I’ve chosen a side, but I’m here to tell the truth.”
He said the soldiers who had been subpoenaed to testify by the newspapers had lied to the court.
“Your witnesses just aren’t truthful, they are lying.”
Person 35 agreed he had liked social media posts that described comrades who had spoken to the media as “rats” and “snitches”.
“The ones that have spoken to the media are lying.”
The court heard Person 35’s legal bills are being paid by Channel Seven chairman Kerry Stokes. Person 35 said he had never met Stokes, but said he had asked Roberts-Smith, an employee of Stokes at Channel Seven, for assistance with legal representation before his interview by the inspector general of the Australian defence force, who was investigating allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers.
Person 35 said he “simply didn’t trust” free lawyers he was offered by the defence force.
Person 35 remains in the witness box. The trial continues before justice Anthony Besanko.