Former ADF member arrested at Sydney Airport over alleged war crimes

• The war crime of murder, in that he intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 12 April 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
• The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 12 April 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
• The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 11 September 2012, at Darwan, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
• The war crime of murder, with another person, in that they intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 20 October 2012, in Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
• The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 20 October 2012, at Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.

The maximum penalty for the offence of war crime-murder is life imprisonment. It is expected the man will appear in NSW court on 7 April.

A joint OSI-AFP investigation began in 2021 and inquiries are continuing. The OSI and AFP are investigating allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

The joint OSI-AFP investigation has, in total, commenced 53 investigations involving allegations of war crimes by Australian Defence Force members in Afghanistan. Thirty-nine of these matters are no longer under active investigation, subject to any new evidence emerging, after being comprehensively investigated and found without sufficient evidence of a war crime. A further 10 investigations are ongoing.

One other investigation has resulted in a former Australian Special Forces solider being charged with one count of war crime-murder. This matter has been listed for trial in February 2027 in the NSW Supreme Court.

The OSI and AFP are working to complete the remaining investigations as expeditiously as possible, cognisant of the welfare of those involved and the impact on the broader Defence community.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.