Former Australian soldier detained over alleged war crime committed in Afghanistan

An Australian veteran has been charged with murder following an investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan. The now 41-year-old who was later identified as former Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz is the first Australian serviceman to be charged with a war crime under the country’s law.

Schulz was arrested in New South Wales and charged with the war crime of murder, said a statement Australian Federal Police. It added, “It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan”. The probe, which was carried out by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), was set up in 2021 to investigate the alleged war crimes.

This was following a four-year inquiry led by an Army Reserve major general and NSW Supreme Court judge Paul Brereton. In 2020, they released the Brereton Report which found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians.

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Among SAS and Commando Regiments troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016, 19 current and former soldiers face a criminal investigation, as per the report. However, Schulz is the first arrest linked to the inquiry.

The 41-year-old is expected to appear before a Sydney court on Tuesday, as per media reports and if convicted he could be facing a potential sentence of life in prison.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) broadcast a helmet camera video in its documentary Four Corners in 2020 that reportedly showed Schulz who was referred to as Soldier C shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan province in 2012.

According to reports, more than 30,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years of presence in the country up until the withdrawal two years ago. At least 41 military personnel from the Australian army have been killed while fighting alongside the United States and allied forces against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups.

Former colleagues of Benjamin Roberts-Smith, a former corporal who was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, accused him of unlawful treatment of prisoners as well as illegal killings which he has denied. Meanwhile, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has blamed these crimes on the “warrior culture” among some of the soldiers which went unchecked.

(With inputs from agencies)

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