Former Special Forces Sues Australian Public Broadcaster Over War Crime Allegations

Australian citizens and visa holders prepare to board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft, as Australian Army infantry personnel provide security and assist with cargo, at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 22, 2021. SGT Glen McCarthy/ Australia's Department of Defence/Handout via Reuters

Former special forces operative Heston Russell has filed a lawsuit against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and journalists—Joshua Robertson and Mark Willacy—over articles alleging he was involved in committing war crimes while on deployment in Afghanistan.

In a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court of Australia, Russell’s lawyers pointed to a November article published on the ABC’s website that alleged he was suspected of committing war crimes by the Department of Defence and Office of the Special Investigator.

The article cited a former U.S. Marines helicopter crew chief that Russell said pinned responsibility on him for the killing of hogtied prisoner in Helmand Province in July 2012 because there was no room for him on the aircraft. A claim the ABC has denied.

The article was linked to an earlier piece in October that featured allegations from the U.S. Marines chief—a door gunner providing aerial cover for Australian soldiers.

Profile photo of Heston Russell, leader of the Australian Values Party, a veteran affairs advocate and former special forces operative. Supplied

“By reason of the publication and republication of the November Article and Linked Article, Russell has been gravely injured in his character, his personal reputation, and his professional reputation as a former member of the armed forces and has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial hurt, distress and embarrassment,” according to the statement of claim (pdf).

In response, the public broadcaster issued a statement to The Epoch Times saying, “The ABC will defend its journalism on this important issue of public interest.”

Russell also claimed he was not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations in the article by ABC.

In an editor’s note at the bottom of the article from November, the ABC stated that the story was amended on Jan. 19, 2022, to reflect Russell’s denial of any allegation.

Ongoing War Crimes Investigations

One of the journalists subject to the lawsuit, Mark Willacy, was awarded the Gold Walkley in 2020 for his work on alleged war crimes by Australian special forces.

His work also came amid the release of the Brereton Report into the alleged actions of Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan, finding soldiers were responsible for the killing of 39 civilians or prisoners.

Former soldier and recently elected MP Keith Wolahan told Parliament on Sept. 5 that Australia needed to preference “truth-telling over myth-making.”

“From the allegations in the Brereton Report to the fall of Kabul, we have a duty to face up to all that happened. Twenty-one years later, we can fairly ask: how did we reorder the world around us?

“If we answer that question with humility, then we will recognise the limits of military power alone. If we answer that question with honesty, then we will have demonstrated that ours is an open and accountable democracy. That is something worth fighting for.”