Former commando Heston Russell fights ABC war crimes allegations

Heston Russell says his denial that he was involved in executing an Afghan prisoner because he didn’t fit in a helicopter was ‘useless’ to dispel the implication he was a war criminal.

Veteran Heston Russell. Picture: Shae Beplate.

A former commando says the ABC gave its audience the impression he was involved in the execution of an Afghan prisoner because the man didn’t fit in a helicopter and publishing his ­denial was “useless” to dispel the implication he was a war criminal.

Australian Values Party founder Heston Russell has launched defamation proceedings against the ABC after it published a series of articles about an alleged defence investigation into the Nov­ember platoon, of which he was commander.

Mr Russell claims the articles, published in October 2020 and November 2021, through the use of links and his photograph, implied he was complicit in the execution of an Afghan prisoner who was captured during a joint drug enforcement operation ­between Australia and the US.

The articles by ABC journalists Mark Willacy and Joshua Robertson contain allegations from a US soldier that he witnessed Australian forces shoot the prisoner in a “deliberate decision to break the rules of war” because there were too many of them to fit into the aircraft.

Mr Russell was represented by defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC, who argued in a drawn-out hearing in the Federal Court on Wednesday that the ABC had given its readers the “impression” Mr Russell was involved in the ­execution.

She said the denials from Mr Russell included in the article served only to reinforce that he was a war criminal.

Ms Chrysanthou also said the ABC was telling its reader “we think this guy killed someone and issued an FOI request to prove it”.