Ben Roberts-Smith will attend an Anzac Day service in Queensland on Saturday morning, describing the day as “sacred” to him, the first commemoration since he was criminally charged.
Roberts-Smith, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and as soon as one among Australia’s most lionised troopers, faces 5 charges of the war crime of homicide, allegedly dedicated throughout his service with the SAS in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
In a press release offered to the Guardian, Roberts-Smith stated he drastically appreciated the help proven to him by veterans and different members of the neighborhood.
“Anzac Day is sacred to me and every other veteran. I will be attending to pay my respects and I encourage everyone else to.”
Roberts-Smith has been residing in Queensland since being released on bail last week. He isn’t allowed to go away the state, apart from visits to NSW and to Western Australia for medical and authorized functions.
The Returned and Services League stated Roberts-Smith was welcome, as any veteran and member of the Australian neighborhood is, to attend an Anzac service in commemoration.
RSL Australia nationwide president, Peter Tinley, himself an SAS veteran, stated: “the Anzac Spirit doesn’t just live in history.
“It lives in the choices we make today, the way we treat each other, and the unity we show when we come together.”
Roberts-Smith, a former SAS corporal, is accused of killing unarmed, handcuffed civilians who had been within the custody of Australian troopers and posed no threat to security, in conditions the place there was no lively engagement in battle.
He has vehemently denied the charges, saying “I categorically deny all of these allegations”.
“And while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name. I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan.”
It comes as a gaggle whose founder describes himself as a “white nationalist” is ready to maintain a rally in help of Roberts-Smith in Melbourne on the day after Anzac day. Neither Roberts-Smith nor his household are in any approach concerned within the rally, a spokesperson stated.
The rally, which requires the charges in opposition to Roberts-Smith to be dropped, is being deliberate by a gaggle known as the National Workers Alliance, which describes itself on promotional materials as an “Australian nationalist organisation for the preservation of European culture and identity”.
The National Workers Alliance disrupted an event in February held by Liberal MP Tim Wilson, and the group’s chief, Matt Trihey, has said he’s a “white nationalist” in a video posted on its social media.
Trihey, in a written response to Guardian Australia, claimed he had been in touch with a member of Roberts-Smith’s household who had permitted the rally.
But when contacted by Guardian Australia, a spokesperson for Roberts-Smith stated: “Mr Roberts-Smith and his family are not in any way involved in this rally, nor associated with its organisers, and have not been consulted by the group in question.”
Sunday’s rally can also be being promoted by a gaggle known as Fight for Australia, previously generally known as March for Australia, which has staged major anti-immigration rallies across Australia. Fight for Australia has been encouraging supporters to contact native RSL branches and ask that welcomes to nation usually are not included in Anzac Day ceremonies, claiming the daybreak service “is not the place for Welcome to Country”.
On Friday, the group wrote on-line “Will you be be [sic] booing the welcome to country this year?” alongside a video of Melbourne’s Anzac Day 2025 ceremony, the place Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown was booed by members of the National Socialist Network.
Fight for Australia have additionally been contacted for remark.
