Trial in war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case over articles accusing him of war crimes has been adjourned until November in light of the current COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, which a judge noted could be extended beyond the month of August.
A witness for two Nine-owned newspapers sued by Ben Roberts-Smith has been accused of fabricating a story that the war veteran kicked his step-uncle off a cliff before ordering him to be shot to gain compensation from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Australian soldiers who raided a village in Afghanistan were “infidels” and the people they killed were “martyrs”, an Afghan villager related to a man allegedly murdered by veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has told a court.
A communications device was planted on an unarmed Afghan villager who was allegedly murdered by former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, a court overseeing the accused war criminal’s defamation trial has heard.
Canberra has been floated as a potential new venue for the trial in former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case as Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak worsens, but a judge has said moving the hearing created “real difficulties”.
The number of lawyers involved in a class action against 3A Composites over allegedly combustible cladding is set to balloon, with the German cladding manufacturer lobbing cross-claims against nine different parties.
Media company Nine, which is facing defamation claims from Ben Roberts-Smith over articles accusing him of war crimes, has asked the court to set aside two subpoenas from the decorated veteran related to a woman who has accused him of domestic violence, arguing the subpoenas act as a substitute for discovery.
Four witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed man off a cliff in Afghanistan will give evidence next week in the war veteran’s defamation trial, which has been disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions in NSW.
Trial in the defamation case by war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith against Nine may face additional delays or be transferred out of Sydney after the NSW Government extended the city’s COVID-19 restrictions by two weeks.
A settlement reached in a lawsuit by the liquidators of collapsed steel giant Arrium against 10 former company directors accused of insolvent trading has been approved by a judge, who noted that while the settlement amount was “substantial”, the deal involved a “substantial compromise”.