Ben Roberts-Smith to finally learn outcome of defamation ‘trial of the century’ against Nine
Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith finally gets the outcome of his ‘slander trial of the century’
- The federal court will rule next week in the Nine Newspapers case
Nearly 11 months into his lengthy trial, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith will soon learn whether his war crimes defamation case has been successful.
The former SAS corporal sued The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times in a Federal Court trial over reports from 2018 alleging he had committed war crimes in Afghanistan, including murder, bullying and domestic violence.
The 43-year-old has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, while the newspapers defended them as true.
The process lasted more than a year and ended on July 27, 2022 after eight days of closing addresses.
Justice Anthony Besanko will rule on June 1, the court announced on Thursday afternoon.
Ben Roberts-Smith will hear the outcome of his ‘slander trial of the century’ against Nine newspapers this Thursday. Above, with partner Sarah Matulin