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When Ben Roberts-Smith boarded a plane from Brisbane to Sydney for a family holiday, he had no idea a group of officers would be waiting for him on the tarmac, ready to arrest the former soldier over alleged war crimes.
The decorated former special forces soldier is expected to be charged with five counts of war crime – murder following a joint investigation between the Office of Special Investigator and the Australian Federal Police after five years of extensive investigations into the alleged killings of Afghan civilians.
Roberts-Smith has always denied any wrongdoing, and it is anticipated that he will fight criminal charges.
The 47-year-old, who has been living in a luxury Riverside serviced apartment in Brisbane’s South Bank, boarded his Qantas flight from Brisbane shortly after nine on Tuesday morning, flanked by his girlfriend and twin teen daughters.
The family were dressed for a holiday, with Roberts-Smith wearing a pale cap, a blue button-up shirt, sneakers and jeans, and his girlfriend, Sarah Matulin, wearing a flowing white dress.
They are understood to have celebrated Easter weekend with Roberts-Smith’s parents, Len and Sue, visiting from Perth. His parents have always defended him.
The flight touched down slightly delayed at 11.15am. On the other side of the plane door, several Australian Federal Police officers stood waiting.
Gary, who asked for his surname to be withheld, was sitting in an adjacent row to Roberts-Smith near the front of the plane, noting his towering frame.
He said the plane sat on the tarmac for an extended period, with no announcements as to what was happening. He saw two police cars pull up on the tarmac beside the plane.
Once the doors opened, the officers strode onboard.
“Two gentlemen in suits got on the flight,” Gary said. They walked up to Roberts-Smith. One stood behind him, while the other crouched down speaking to him in a low voice.
Roberts-Smith had an “initial look of surprise, maybe slight bemusement”, Gary said.
After a brief chat, which Gary described as civil and professional, Roberts-Smith stood up and was escorted off the plane, with his girlfriend and children trailing behind.
He was not handcuffed.
Flanked by a uniformed AFP officer and another official in a suit, Roberts-Smith was walked to an unmarked police SUV waiting on the tarmac.
His daughters walked behind, followed by Matulin, who had her phone to her ear. With a woven handbag dangling from her hand, it’s clear the family had no idea the fate that awaited them.
The trio got in a separate car to Roberts-Smith.
Roberts-Smith was driven to Mascot Police Station, where he is expected to be charged with five counts of war crime – murder. If he is denied bail by either police or the courts, he will spend his first night behind bars in the eight years since the damning allegations were first made public.
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Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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