Roberts-Smith is suing the newspapers over a series of articles in 2018 that he says portray him as a war criminal who was involved in the unlawful killing of Afghan prisoners. He denies all wrongdoing. The media outlets are seeking to rely on a defence of truth and allege Roberts-Smith was involved in six unlawful killings.
One of the killings alleged is that he directed an Afghan Partner Force soldier,dubbed Person 12,to get one of his subordinates to kill an unarmed prisoner in October 2012. Roberts-Smith has denied the alleged incident took place and said Person 12 was not there on the day in question.
Person 35 and Person 27 had supported Roberts-Smith and said in written outlines of their anticipated evidence,filed in the Federal Court in 2019,that Person 12 could not have been there because he had been stood down for inadvertently injuring an Australian soldier,Person 57,by shooting at a dog.
But last week,Person 35 said he “must have remembered incorrectly” when he said in court,and in his written outline of evidence,that Person 12 had been stood down.
And on Tuesday,Person 27 admitted that nobody had ever told him that Person 12 was the man who had been stood down. He had already conceded on Monday that “the identity of the person was never known to me because I wasn’t there”.
Roberts-Smith himself conceded in court on June 11 last year that,based on material produced by the Defence Department on the eve of the trial,his explanation in his written outline about Person 12 being stood down was wrong. He maintains the Afghan soldier was not there.
The newspapers have alleged the similarity in the accounts given by the mensuggested there had been collusion between the witnesses in the preparation of their evidence. The witnesses have denied that allegation.