Australian Federal Police Defends Decision to Arrest Roberts-Smith Publicly

The AFP chief said it was ‘unviable’ for Roberts-Smith to present himself to police, as he had promised.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett speaks to the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Dec. 19, 2025. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has defended its prosecution of the nation’s most decorated living soldier as a media leak about his arrest comes under scrutiny.

Ben Roberts-Smith was charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, after he was publicly arrested on the tarmac of Sydney Airport in April.