ABC apologises to commando Heston Russell after war crimes coverage

The ABC has apologised to a former commando for an error in a story alleging an Australian soldier had illegally killed an Afghan prisoner.

The ABC has apologised to a former commando for an error in a story alleging war crimes in Afghanistan but refused to remove the story from its website.

Earlier this month the ­national broadcaster quietly updated and published corrections on two stories it had aired, one in 2020 and ­another in 2021, dealing with claims from an unidentified US soldier that a member of an Australian commando ­platoon illegally killed an ­Afghan prisoner.

The ABC story alleged soldiers from the November Platoon murdered a prisoner who was already bound, shooting him when they were told there was no space on a helicopter for him. The US Marine making the claim was not a witness but rather heard “a pop on the radio” he ­assumed was a gunshot.

Radio host Ben Fordham has campaigned on 2GB for 18 weeks for the ABC to apologise to November Platoon commander Heston Russell and on Wednesday revealed the broadcaster had sent him a carefully worded apology.

Former soldier Heston Russell says the report was triggering for veterans. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Consistent with the findings in relation to the October 2020 story, Audience and Consumer Affairs find that reasonable efforts were not made to ensure that the US marine’s allegation was correctly reported in the November 2021 story,” the ABC said.

“ABC News apologise for this error and explain that it arose in the production phase for the story. The story has been corrected. Further, the clarification which has been added to the 2020 story will help to ensure that any future developments in this story are reported with accuracy,” it added.

The ABC building in Ultimo. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The ABC said: “The US Marine did not claim that the Commandos were from November Platoon. Nor did the ABC story state or imply this.”

However, Fordham produced a screenshot of the original article which clearly stated: “A US Marine’s helicopter crew chief alleged ­November Platoon killed an Afghan prisoner after being told he would not fit on an aircraft.”

In response, the ABC ­issued a further statement on Wednesday saying it backed the original story by reporter Mark Willacy in October 2020, saying it “remains online and unchanged, with no breach of editorial standards”.

“The follow-up November 2021 story that was the subject of a separate complaint has had a correction added, and also remains online,” it said.

Mr Russell, the commander of November Platoon, told Fordham on Wednesday: “While it is an apology there is still a bit of work to be done.”

He said the allegations had impacted the mental health of members of the platoon.

“This is our legacy. These are some of the most serious allegations that can be made. I still can’t believe they could be made so flippantly by our own taxpayer-funded broadcaster based off the single ­report of a foreign citizen,” Mr Russell said.

“This story was published on October 21, 2020 which was the eighth anniversary of the death of Scott Smith who was the member of November Platoon we lost on that deployment in 2012 to ­Afghanistan. It was triggering to say the least.

“The impact this has had on the mental health of people, it’s hard to capture that in a defamation case, should we wish to waste more Australian taxpayer dollars should we wish to take them to court. But there has to be provision and there has to be greater accountability before anyone in the media steps out to accuse our soldiers of these things.”

No members of the November Platoon are accused of any wrongdoing.