Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested on Tuesday and will be charged with five counts of war crime murder relating to the killing of unarmed civilians during deployment in Afghanistan.The 47-year-old former Australian Defence Force (ADF) member was taken into custody at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said.He will be charged with five counts of war crimes in connection with the murder of five individuals in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. The maximum penalty for each charge is life imprisonment.Roberts-Smith had been hailed as a national hero and was awarded several of Australia’s highest military honours, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012.“It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett told a press conference.“It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and under the control of ADF members when they were killed,” she said, adding that some victims were allegedly shot by the accused or by subordinates acting on his orders and in his presence.Roberts-Smith has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing during his military service. The claims were first reported by Nine Entertainment newspapers in a series of articles beginning in 2018.Among the allegations were that he shot an unarmed Afghan teenager and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him to be shot dead.He unsuccessfully challenged the reports in what became Australia’s most expensive defamation trial. In 2023, a Federal Court judge ruled that the newspapers had proven four of the six murder allegations. A final appeal was dismissed by the High Court in September 2025.A 2020 report found credible evidence that members of Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) had killed dozens of unarmed prisoners during the Afghanistan war.An investigation by the AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), established to probe alleged war crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan, began in 2021.Ross Barnett, director of investigations at the OSI, said the probe was complex due to the inability to access crime scenes in Afghanistan.“We don’t have access to the crime scenes, photographs, site plans, measurements, or forensic evidence such as projectiles or blood spatter analysis,” he said.Authorities said 53 investigations into alleged war crimes by ADF personnel have been launched, with 10 still ongoing. Another former special forces soldier is due to face trial for war crime murder next February.“If the evidence leads to other people needing to be charged, you can be assured that will happen,” Barnett added.Police said the accused man would appear before a local court in the state of New South Wales later on Tuesday.Roberts-Smith’s lawyer for his defamation trial did not immediately respond to a request for comment.