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The Latest Breaking News from Anthony Besanko

PM declines to comment on Roberts-Smith ruling – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The Guardian - AU

Madonna King: Sorry end to hero in case that divided an army

We should all feel a bit sad because this sorry saga will be etched into our history as period that divided our army.

The New Daily

What comes next for war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith after his defamation case was dismissed?

Ben Roberts-Smith has lost one of the most expensive defamation trials in Australia, and along with it his reputation. There are other factors that now need to be considered too.

ABC News

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read the most diverse news in one place.

Ben Roberts-Smith: calls for uniform to be removed from Australian War Memorial display

Greens say removal would be ‘first step in correcting the official record’ after federal court dismisses defamation case

The Guardian - AU

Australia’s most decorated living soldier committed war crimes, judge rules in defamation case

Victoria Cross recipient loses civil defamation case as judge finds a number of murder allegations by newspapers ‘substantially true’

The Independent UK

The man who wasn’t there: Ben Roberts-Smith misses his day of reckoning

On the day a judge ruled the Victoria Cross winner had lost his defamation case and been proven to be a war criminal, Roberts-Smith didn’t turn up to court

The Guardian - AU

Afghan war veteran 'shot prisoner dead and kept prosthetic leg to drink beer'

A federal court judge found that articles published claiming that Ben Roberts-Smith had unlawfully killed Afghan prisoners and "bullied and harassed" Afghan civilians were "substantially true"

Daily Mirror

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Ben Roberts-Smith: the murders and war crimes at the heart of a seismic defamation battle

Judge found the newspapers had proven their defence of substantial truth on allegations of a murder and two executions

The Guardian - AU

'Dismissed': legal experts explain the judgment in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

Today, Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko handed down his long-awaited judgment in the defamation case that Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living former SAS soldier, brought against the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times.

The Conversation

What did Ben Roberts-Smith do? This is what his civil case found

Justice Anthony Besanko's full reasons for his judgement are yet to be released, but today he outlined the serious allegations Nine's lawyers had proved the "substantial truth" of.

ABC News

Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith loses war crimes suit

Ben Roberts-Smith had sued for defamation after newspapers reported he had murdered civilians in Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera

A win for the press, a big loss for Ben Roberts-Smith: what does this judgment tell us about defamation law?

At the heart of the spectacular defamation trial brought by decorated Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith were two key questions.

The Conversation

The Ben Roberts-Smith defamation judgment: read Justice Anthony Besanko’s full summary

In the federal court of Australia the judge dismissed the Victoria Cross recipient’s case against three newspapers who accused him of war crimes

The Guardian - AU

Ben Roberts-Smith loses defamation case, with judge finding former SAS soldier committed war crimes

Justice Anthony Besanko found newspapers established substantial or contextual truth of allegations of murders of unarmed civilians in Afghanistan

The Guardian - AU

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ABC News

As it happened: Ben Roberts-Smith's major court loss, costs will 'follow inevitably'

Justice Anthony Besanko delivers a devastating blow to war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith, who had been suing three newspapers and three journalists for defamation over articles alleging he committed war crimes in Afghanistan. This is how it unfolded

The Guardian - AU

Judge hands down defamation findings – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

ABC News

Decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith to learn fate today, five years after launching defamation battle

The Victoria Cross recipient sued the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three journalists in the Federal Court over a series of articles published in 2018. Today Justice Anthony Besanko will deliver his judgement.

The Guardian - AU

Judgment day: Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial to conclude with dramatic finale

One of the most costly trials held in Australia will conclude when the verdict is delivered on Thursday afternoon, with significant implications for the media and the SAS regiment

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The Guardian - AU

Australia’s trial of the century: defamation case pitting the media against Victoria Cross soldier

Three newspapers accused Ben Roberts-Smith, recipient of Australia’s highest military honour, of war crimes – now the five-year court case is coming to an end

The Guardian - AU

Ben Roberts-Smith: the explosive allegations of war crimes at the heart of defamation case

The Victoria Cross recipient claims a series of news stories defamed him but the newspapers defended their reporting as true. As a verdict looms, we look at the key details of the case

The Guardian - AU

Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial laid bare the brutal reality of Australia’s decades-long war in Afghanistan – now the ex-soldier awaits judgment

While costs of about $25m and possibly millions in damages are at stake, the trial also has existential implications for Australian journalism

ABC News

Sydney news: NSW police renew appeal for information in Canterbury Alsehli sister deaths

MORNING BRIEFING: Police are renewing their appeal for information into the mysterious deaths of two sisters, who were found in separate rooms inside a south-west Sydney unit last month.

The Guardian - AU

Evidence of Afghan witnesses against Ben Roberts-Smith ‘hardly neutral’, lawyer tells court

Lawyers for Ben Roberts-Smith urge Justice Besanko to disregard evidence of Afghan witnesses, saying the men were prejudiced against Australian soldiers

The Guardian - AU

‘Fanciful, nonsense’: case against Ben Roberts-Smith ‘based on conjecture’, lawyer tells defamation trial

Former soldier’s barrister says newspapers accusing him of murders while part of SAS ‘failed to establish any motive’ and the case is ‘an embarrassment’

The Guardian - AU

Christian Porter loses appeal against Jo Dyer in spinoff case to ABC defamation action

Former attorney general had appealed court decision to stop Sue Chrysanthou representing him, despite dropping his claim against ABC

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