War hero Ben Roberts-Smith has criticised police for targeting him while claiming they were under-resourced before the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack, and said their explanation for his public arrest “makes no sense”.
Roberts-Smith, 47, a Victoria Cross recipient and Australia’s most decorated living soldier, was arrested at Sydney Airport after arriving from Brisbane with his family on April 7, and charged with five counts of war crimes over alleged incidents in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
The arrest was filmed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), but journalists and photographers from 9News, which has led a years-long campaign against the former SAS corporal, were present during the arrest and filmed from inside the terminal.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett later defended the decision to arrest Roberts-Smith at the airport, telling the Senate it was because “airports are sterile environments” and “the area is contained, meaning it is safer to take action for our members and members of the public”.
But Roberts-Smith, who denies the charges and intends to plead not guilty, spoke out about the arrest and the investigation against him in two interviews with news.com.au and 2GB aired on Thursday.
AFP footage of the arrest:
SAS hero Ben Roberts-Smith has now been charged with five counts of war crime – murder, and refused bail.
He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Follow: @NoticerNews https://t.co/vvDHCauQBd
— N News (@NoticerNews) April 7, 2026
He directly rejected the AFP’s explanation, and said his own counter-terrorism training suggested it was actually more dangerous than it could have been.
“When I look at the explanations given by the AFP in Estimates – that it was too dangerous, that I was a flight risk, that they needed a sterile environment – it makes no sense,” he said.
“As someone who has conducted hundreds of high-risk arrests, if you choose to arrest someone in that manner, you are putting 200 passengers in a confined space in jeopardy. If I were the threat they suggest I was, that is the last place you would arrest someone, particularly with my family there.
“To me, marching me off the plane with media already waiting was an obvious attempt to prejudice the public. Stories were dropping immediately that had been written the day before. It was just a staggering event to be a part of.”
Metadata from articles on the arrest from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, both Nine mastheads, appear to show they were prepared a day in advance, suggesting journalists were tipped off by sources within the AFP or the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI).
Roberts-Smith went on to say he believed the arrest was made in Sydney to give prosecutors a procedural advantage.
“Arresting me in NSW provides [Commonwealth prosecutors] with a material advantage because they can utilise committal hearings to extract evidence from people who otherwise didn’t want to be involved. In Queensland, only the defendant can call witnesses at a committal. I 100% believe that’s why it happened,” he said.
The war hero questioned why police had spent so much time investigating and putting him under surveillance, which he said was still occurring, while also claiming that they failed to prevent the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack to due a lack of resources.
“There is no way in any way, shape or form that I was considered a threat by the AFP,” he said.
“I fought for this country … yet all those resources continue to be used on me right up until the arrest and still today.
“I think about that in the context of Bondi, because the first statement out of the AFP was that they were under-resourced in counter-terrorism in NSW. Instead of doing all this surveillance on me … why waste the money on me?”
He also directly addressed the claims he and other SAS soldiers had killed civilians, and denied it had ever happened.
“Trying to convince everybody that we were murdering civilians … is the most egregious commentary about the case, because it’s completely false,” he said.
“The individuals that were part of these engagements, legitimate engagements, were members of the Taliban. And even Nine witnesses, many of them, would agree to that when the proposition was put to them in their evidence … It was never in any way proven that they were civilians.”
The AFP and OSI have denied leaking information about the arrest to Nine, and said the matter has been referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Header image: Left, Ben Roberts-Smith during his 2GB interview (YouTube). Right, with girlfriend Sarah Matulin (supplied).
