AFR · Janek Drevikovsky · Wednesday 8 April 2026
Ben Roberts-Smith will remain in custody until at least June after his lawyers declined to seek bail following war crime murder charges against the decorated former soldier.
His own lawyers declined the bail application, which in legal terms is called reading the room. Every institution that could have acted earlier — the regiment, the chain of command, Defence itself — chose the Victoria Cross photo op over the questions behind it. It took newspapers and a civil courtroom to drag the military's silence into the light. The brass polished the medal while the evidence gathered dust.