His barrister,Jack Tracey,told the court on Tuesday that his client’s evidence may involve “self-incrimination of the gravest kind” in relation to an alleged murder in 2012 in an area of Afghanistan called Siah Chow.
The former SAS soldier was subpoenaed by The Age,The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times to give evidence in Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation case against the mastheads.
Mr Roberts-Smith alleges the newspapers defamed him in a series of reports in 2018 by portraying him as a war criminal. The newspapers are seeking to rely on a defence of truth.
Nicholas Owens,SC,acting for the newspapers,confirmed he was seeking to have the court compel Person 66 to give the evidence,in spite of his objection.
Mr Owens said on Tuesday the newspapers could win the defamation case if Person 66 gave evidence about the alleged murder,and Justice Anthony Besanko accepted that evidence.
“I can concede frankly that it is possible for me to win this case without succeeding in proving the murder at Siah Chow,and it won’t shock your Honour to learn that I hope to do so,” Mr Owens said.
“But it is equally possible that I could win this case by only proving the murder at Siah Chow. It is an independent path home to victory.”