![\"Amber](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6cf3ef58425442818dbc04724af4be2696ecdd06.png\")
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Updated April 7, 2026 \u2014 4:45pm,first published 3:56pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n When Ben Roberts-Smith boarded a plane from Brisbane to Sydney for a family holiday, he had no idea a group of officers would be waiting for him on the tarmac, ready to arrest the former soldier over alleged war crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n The decorated former special forces soldier was on Tuesday afternoon charged with five counts of war crime \u2013 murder \u2013 following a joint investigation between the Office of Special Investigator and the Australian Federal Police after five years of extensive investigations into the alleged killings of Afghan civilians.<\/p>\n Roberts-Smith has always denied any wrongdoing, and it is anticipated that he will fight criminal charges.<\/p>\n The 47-year-old, who has been living in a luxury Riverside serviced apartment in Brisbane\u2019s South Bank, boarded his Qantas flight from Brisbane shortly after 9am on Tuesday, flanked by his girlfriend and twin teen daughters.<\/p>\n The family were dressed for a holiday, with Roberts-Smith wearing a pale-coloured cap, a blue button-up shirt, sneakers and jeans, and his girlfriend, Sarah Matulin, wearing a flowing white dress.<\/p>\n They are understood to have celebrated Easter weekend with Roberts-Smith\u2019s parents, Len and Sue, visiting from Perth. His parents have always defended him.<\/p>\n The flight touched down slightly delayed at 11.15am. On the other side of the plane door, several Australian Federal Police officers stood waiting.<\/p>\n Gary, who asked for his surname to be withheld, was sitting in an adjacent row to Roberts-Smith near the front of the plane, noting his towering frame.<\/p>\n He said the plane sat on the tarmac for an extended period, with no announcements as to what was happening. He saw two police cars pull up on the tarmac beside the plane.<\/p>\n Once the doors opened, the officers strode onboard.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo gentlemen in suits got on the flight,\u201d Gary said. They walked up to Roberts-Smith. One stood behind him, while the other crouched down speaking to him in a low voice.<\/p>\n Roberts-Smith had an \u201cinitial look of surprise, maybe slight bemusement\u201d, Gary said.<\/p>\n Related Article After a brief chat, which Gary described as civil and professional, Roberts-Smith stood up and was escorted off the plane, with his girlfriend and children trailing behind.<\/p>\n He was not handcuffed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very weird, very weird to know that there are very different lives being led on that plane, and very sad,\u201d another passenger who witnessed the arrest told Nine News.<\/p>\n Another said it all unfolded quickly.\u201cI had no idea what was happening,\u201d she told Nine.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit of a shock to see the commotion, [it was] very swift, in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither were aware that the man being led off the plane was a fallen war hero.<\/p>\n Flanked by a uniformed AFP officer and another official in a suit, Roberts-Smith was walked to an unmarked police SUV waiting on the tarmac.<\/p>\n His daughters walked behind, followed by Matulin, who had her phone to her ear. With a woven handbag dangling from her hand, it\u2019s clear the family had no idea the fate that awaited them.<\/p>\n The trio got in a separate car to Roberts-Smith.<\/p>\n Roberts-Smith was driven to Mascot Police Station, and he was later charged with five counts of war crime \u2013 murder. If he is denied bail by either police or the courts, he will spend his first night behind bars in the eight years since the damning allegations were first made public.<\/p>\n Read more on Ben Roberts-Smith\u2019s arrest:Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/778420448ccf57b6962886d6dff6972f8706a707.jpeg\")
Ben Roberts-Smith is escorted off his flight upon arrival at Sydney Airport on Tuesday by AFP officers.AFP<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/139471b12fb01e016cdec4cbb2f077d7de552f50.jpeg\")
Ben Roberts-Smith was taken away by an AFP car waiting on the tarmac after his arrival from Brisbane.AFP<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bfb69d740e9c09c3561cbfe1fb05b4626679746f.jpeg\")
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Amber Schultz<\/a> is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 7, 2026 \u2014 4:45pm,first published 3:56pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145],"class_list":["post-379280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}