War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith requests retrial in defamation case against Nine
A surprise development has occurred in war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith’s long-running defamation case against Nine.
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War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has made an 11th hour bid to have a ruling in his defamation case against Nine overturned saying there was a “miscarriage of justice”
His lawyers filed a 19-page interlocutory application late on Thursday, seeking to set aside a judgement that had found he had committed war crimes.
Mr Roberts-Smith released a statement saying “my lawyers have today filed an application with the Full Court seeking leave to rely upon additional evidence, including an audio recording in which a journalist admits to being briefed with my confidential legal strategy.”
Nine Newspapers journalist Nick McKenzie was heard on the tape released earlier this week saying he had “breached his ethics” and was in a “s*** position now” in conversation with a source.
Mr Roberts-Smith also claimed that there was “evidence that my emails were improperly accessed over 100 times in 2020 and 2021.
“I have continued to fight for justice throughout this process and today that fight continues,” he said.
“As a soldier I spent the majority of my adult life serving this country and putting my life on the line defending our rights as Australians.
“All I have ever asked for was a fair process where the truth and justice can prevail.”
The Federal Court had handed down a judgment in 2023 that found Nine had successfully defended Mr Roberts-Smith defamation claim.
His lawyers were expected to argue that the judge had erred when finding Mr Roberts-Smith had kicked an Afghan prisoner off a cliff and ordered another soldier to shoot him.
The allegations against the Victorian Cross winner related to his tours in Afghanistan.
Mr Roberts-Smith launched defamation action against Fairfax newspapers in 2018, with the company later taken over by Nine as part of a $4 billion merger.
The legal bill for the case for lawyers on both sides has been at least $35 million, with the latest claim expected to extend proceedings further.
Mr Roberts-Smith has appealed the findings and a judgement had been expected imminently until the application on Thursday.
Nine said in a statement: “There is no breach of legal privilege or ethical concerns. Any claims of a miscarriage of justice are baseless and a continuation of the sustained campaign of mistruths peddled by Ben Roberts-Smith and his media backers. Nine has full confidence in the reporting and actions of Nick McKenzie.”
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Originally published as War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith requests retrial in defamation case against Nine
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