Australian SAS soldier Oliver Schulz charged with murder over shooting in Afghanistan

SAS veteran Oliver Schulz has appeared in court charged with murdering an Afghan man on the field of war. He is the first ADF member to be charged with a war crime murder under Australian law.

Former trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was shown in an ABC Investigations-Four Corners story in 2020 shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan.

A decorated Australian SAS veteran appeared in court on Monday charged with murdering an Afghan villager on the field of war.

Oliver Schulz, 41, who was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, is the the first Australian Defence Force member to be charged with a war crime murder under Australian law.

Supportive colleagues said that after years of military inquiries and media accusations, they welcomed the chance for a court to “establish the truth”.

The ADF announced in 2020 that Schulz, of Moonbah near Jindabyne, had been suspended from duty after an ABC Four Corners report in 2020 allegedly showed him shooting an Afghan in a wheat field in the Uruzgan Province in Southern Afghanistan.

Schulz was charged with one count of War Crime—Murder under subsection 268.70(1) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail.

Video footage of former trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, allegedly shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan in 2012, was broadcast in Killing Fields, an episode of ABC's Four Corners in 2020.

His case was mentioned in Queanbeyan Local Court late on Monday, when Commonwealth prosecutor Sean Flood said Schulz was in police custody “between Cooma and Queanbeyan” and would not appear.

His defence lawyer, Karen Espiner, said he would not apply for bail, and he was remanded in custody to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on May 16.

Police allege in court documents that Schulz caused the death of “Dad Mohammad” in Deh Jawz in Uruzgan Province on May 28, 2012 ”in the context of, and was associated with, an armed conflict that was not an international armed conflict”.

It was further alleged that Dad Mohammad “was not taking an active part in the hostilities” and Schulz ”knew, or was reckless as to the factual circumstances establishing that the person was not taking an active part in the hostilities”.

‘SOONER TRUTH IS ESTABLISHED, THE BETTER’

The national chairman of the SAS Association Martin Hamilton-Smith told The Daily Telegraph that the SAS were “used and overused” in Afghanistan, some with nine and ten deployments. He said he did not know how many times Oliver Schulz had been deployed there.

“Our nation asks a great deal of these men and they endured great danger, exhaustion and extremely dangerous working conditions,” Mr Hamilton-Smith, a former South Australian Minister for Veterans‘ Affairs said on Monday.

“These are some of the finest soldiers that ever left our shores. They are good men asked to do extraordinary things for their country and the sooner the truth is established the better.”

He said he welcomed the fact that the charge would be dealt with in a civil and “properly constituted” court.

“A charge is not a conviction and the presumption of innocence applies,” he said.

“So far there has been trial by accusation and what the court process will prove is for all sides of the story to be heard and the truth to be established.”

MONDAY MORNING ARREST

Schulz’s arrest at Cooma Police Station at 9.23am on Monday followed a joint operation by homicide detectives, the Australian Federal Police and intelligence officers under the Office of the Special Investigator. The OSI was set up in 2021 in the wake of an inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force led by NSW Supreme Court judge and Army Reserve major general Paul Brereton.

The OSI and AFP said in a joint statement that they are working together to investigate allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

Schulz is well known as a white water kayaking Instructor for Defence and has a Masters in Business Administration, majoring in leadership studies. His research interests are listed as including “human performance and leadership in small teams in dynamic environments”.