Thursday, June 01, 2023

Confirmed: biggest defamation case self-own since Oscar Wilde

I can't be the only person who has said that, about this:

Ben Roberts-Smith VC, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, has lost a defamation case in which he was accused of multiple murder of unarmed civilians in Afghanistan, a federal court judge has found.
The case only happened because of funding by Kerry Stokes, who seems to have more money than brains.   I don't think I had heard this before:

Roberts-Smith took out a loan from his employer, the media baron Kerry Stokes, to run the defamation action: if he loses, he has offered his Victoria Cross as collateral.

Is there any value at all left in a VC awarded to someone we are now free to call a murderer?  

Update:  Yes, Google shows me that Green Left made the Wilde comparison back in March 2022:

Roberts-Smith does not seem the kind of guy to relate to Oscar Wilde. That’s a shame, as he may have learned something about starting a libel case over public allegations that you’ve been doing the same sort of thing that a whole bunch of people are going to stand up in court and say you’ve been doing.

But now that I check, I said it in February 2022.  I bet there was someone who said it earlier, though.  

By the way, the Green Left post contains this useful mega link paragraph about the ridiculous amount of harmful material that came out from this trial:

Some of the headlines since the court case began last year include: SAS soldier tells court Ben Roberts-Smith ordered shooting of detained Afghan man; Ben Roberts-Smith described alleged execution of Afghan teen as ‘beautiful thing’, court hears; Witness stands by claims Ben Roberts-Smith was instrumental in two Afghan executions; Ben Roberts-Smith shot Afghan captive in the back, SAS member tells defamation trialSAS soldier cried describing Roberts-Smith kicking man off cliff, court told; Former soldier tells court Ben Roberts-Smith ordered mock execution during training; Ben Roberts-Smith used software to ‘scrub’ laptop but denies destroying evidence; SAS soldier tells Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial war veteran threatened to shoot him in head; Superior officer tells court Ben Roberts-Smith threatened to ‘smash his face in’; Ben Roberts-Smith punched woman in face in Canberra hotel room, court told; Private investigator tells court he severed ties with Ben Roberts-Smith over alleged threatening letters; Soldiers believe events that earned Ben Roberts-Smith Victoria Cross may have been ‘falsified’, court hears.

4 comments:

  1. Now a court has found he committed war crimes will he still have his medals?

    Those deplorables who said nothing occurred in Afghanistan are looking stupid

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  2. "Those deplorables who said nothing occurred in Afghanistan are looking stupid"

    I went to look for the reaction at dover beach's blog this afternoon, but it had crashed!

    Actually, I was getting the feeling, from muted comments made about it yesterday, that many there may have anticipated a loss...

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  3. Just checked again - still seems to be "under maintenance" or something.

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  4. Oh it seems I can get to the open forum now. Much moaning and gnashing of teeth about how it's the end of Australia.

    Not all of them, but most.

    As with climate change, their problem is they put stuff into the "it's just part of the culture wars" category, and therefore pre-emptively just cannot believe evidence in front of their noses.

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