SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has lost a bid to shield his medical records from three publishers less than a week before his high-profile defamation case kicks off in the Federal Court.
Ben Roberts-Smith has won approval to split his case at the upcoming trial in his defamation case against three publishers over articles accusing him of war crimes, with a judge saying the seriousness of the allegations against him weighed in favour of the unorthodox move.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith “wiped” a laptop last month containing possible national secrets found on USB sticks retrieved from his former home, the judge overseeing the former soldier’s defamation case against three publishers has heard.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith is seeking all “covert recordings” held by Nine and revealed in a number of news publications last month in which the former soldier said it was his “sole mission” to destroy the journalists behind allegedly defamatory articles accusing him of war crimes.
A judge has partially struck out mining magnate Clive Palmerās defence to WA Premier Mark McGowanās defamation claim over statements which allegedly accused the premier of corruption, abusing his position and lying about the decision to close the stateās borders at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Ben Roberts-Smith has raised āserious concernsā in his defamation case against Fairfax that the media company may have unlawfully published classified material he allegedly buried in his backyard, with the war veteran asking for an explanation of where it came from.
News publishers facing a defamation suit by Ben Roberts-Smith have called on the war veteran to explain alleged “deliberate concealment” of documents relevant to the case, as the Australian Federal Police reveals they are investigating claims he buried evidence.
Nine has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit by former Liberal leader John Hewson alleging a report by A Current Affair about his insurance firm was gratuitous and “seriously dishonest”.
The judge overseeing sports presenter Erin Molan’s defamation case against the Daily Mail won’t force Molan to be questioned ahead of trail about a segment on Nine’s The Footy Show in which she laughed at an off-colour joke, saying theĀ publisher was “fishing”.
A judge has allowed four Afghan witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed Afghan citizen off a cliff to give evidence remotely when the Australian war veteran’s defamation case against three newspapers heads to trial in June.