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.
Media companies seeking access to the ABC’s unredacted defence in a now-settled defamation case brought by Christian Porter told a judge the principle of open justice required that the pleading be made public, while the former attorney-general argued there was no “superior” public interest in airing the document.
Media giant Nine has paid more than $150,000 in fines and will repay subscribers and advertisers $450,000 for allegedly slapping them with excessive payment surcharges on credit card transactions.
Trial in the defamation case by accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has been adjourned for three weeks after COVID-19 restrictions prevented witnesses from travelling to Sydney and national security concerns were raised regarding Afghani witnesses set to give evidence.
Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has denied claims that he assaulted a woman with whom he was having an affair and took naked photos of her while she was unconscious after attending a Parliament House function in March 2018.
Ben Roberts-Smith has told a court that he exchanged emails with SAS witnesses about a compound where he was alleged to have murdered a man with a prosthetic leg in the lead-up to his defamation trial.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has denied allegations that he sent off threatening letters to a former SAS colleague to stop him from talking to the media and a defence inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Ben Roberts-Smith has admitted that he owns a glass replica of the prosthetic leg belonging to a man he killed in Afghanistan, as trial in his defamation case entered its third week.