BEN ROBERTS SMITH'S FRIEND BACKS SOLDIER'S ACCOUNT
0Ben Roberts Smith's friend backs soldier's account
Bombshell new war crime allegations against Ben Roberts Smith have come to light as one of the decorated soldier's close friends gave evidence in the defamation battle with Nine Newspapers. The man. known under the alias of Person 5. was on the stand for a second day. denying accusations he was giving false evidence to stop any potential future criminal prosecutions. Under tense cross examination. the witness accepted he had been implicated in three of the same war crime allegations that Roberts Smith is facing. They relate to the Whiskey 108 operation on Easter in 2009 when its alleged Person 5. who was the patrol commander. ordered a rookie soldier to execute an unarmed Afghan. The Victoria Cross recipient has also been accused of shooting dead a detainee with a prosthetic leg during the same mission. During questioning. Person 5 also acknowledged another three accusations that have never before been heard in the Federal Court. including two occasions in 2010 when he and Roberts Smith were accused of 'blooding rookies'. The barrister for Nine Newspapers Nicholas Owens SC suggested the witness had deliberately given a false testimony to protect himself. 'You understand... that if either of you changes your position and confesses to any of those murders. it will make the position of the other impossibly difficult?' Mr Owens asked. 'Why would I confess to something that has never happened?' Person 5 hit back. The retired soldier rejected accusations he left the military because of the official inquiry into the Afghanistan war. although he admitted to warning Roberts Smith about the probe. which he described as a 'witch hunt'.
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