Attorney-General Michelle Rowland approved the prosecution of Victoria Cross awardee Ben Roberts-Smith for allegedly executing prisoners in Afghanistan faster than women married to ISIS insurgents charged with aiding a terrorist group and slave trading.
Ms Rowland approved Mr Roberts-Smith’s prosecution on Wednesday April 1, two days after the federal Director of Public Prosecutions sought her permission, which is required for war crimes charges, officials from the Attorney-General’s Department told a Senate committee Monday evening.
Approval from Ms Rowland to prosecute three so-called “ISIS brides” took 25 days last November and December, the officials said in response to a question by Michaelia Cash, the Shadow Attorney-General.
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“It is up to the Attorney-General to explain why it took her a day to sign off on the Ben Roberts-Smith prosecution and three weeks to do the same for the ISIS brides,” Ms Cash said.
Mr Roberts-Smith was arrested on April 7 at Sydney Airport after arriving for a shopping trip with his partner, Sarah Matulin, and twin 15-year-old daughters. Some journalists were tipped off about the arrest, which was carried out by the Australian Federal Police.
The quick approval for Mr Roberts-Smith’s arrest may lead supporters of the SAS veteran to complain Ms Rowland did not have time to properly consider the evidence against him, which was given to the Attorney-General after the prosecution request, according to government officials.
Kawsar Abbas, 53, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested in Melbourne two-and-a-half weeks ago. Ms Abbas was charged with crimes against humanity, including enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and slave trading.
In Sydney, 32-year-old Janai Safar was charged with entering or remaining in a prohibited region and belonging to a terror group.
Mr Roberts-Smith has been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder for allegedly shooting prisoners and ordering other SAS soldiers to execute prisoners. He has said he will plead not guilty.
Mr Roberts-Smith was investigated by the Official of the Special Investigator, which has been allocated more than $300 million since it was created in January, 2021.
Only two people have been charged, Mr Roberts-Smith and fellow SAS veteran Oliver Schulz, whose murder trial is scheduled for early next year. In February, the agency said it had completed 39 investigations and is working on 13, although did not say how many veterans were affected.
