Latest news with #warcrimes
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- News.com.au
Ben Roberts-Smith battles for last chance to overturn defamation loss in Australia's highest court
Ben Roberts-Smith has turned to Australia's highest court in a last-ditch effort to sue Nine Newspapers over war crime allegations. Roberts-Smith claims the Federal Court bolstered its murder conclusions on the assumption that because he didn't challenge evidence, he accepted it as fact. Roberts-Smith filed an application for special leave with the High Court of Australia on Wednesday, just a month after he failed to overturn his loss to Nine Newspapers over war crimes allegations made in a series of stories. Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko in June 2023 dismissed Roberts-Smith's multimillion-dollar lawsuit against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Canberra Times in a landmark judgment. Justice Besanko found that Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of four unarmed men during his deployment in Afghanistan. The findings were made on the balance of probabilities, which is less than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. His appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was dismissed by Justices Nye Perram, Anna Katzmann and Geoffrey Kennett in May The court found that while Justice Besanko made two errors in his judgment, they were described as 'immaterial'. Roberts-Smith's latest bid to overturn his defamation loss hinges on two grounds, including claims the Federal Court made an error by assuming he accepted facts because he didn't contest evidence. 'The Full Court erred by treating the appellant as affirmatively accepting facts that were not recontested, and using that assumed acceptance to bolster its murder conclusions, thus misconceiving the effect of unchallenged findings on appeal,' the special leave application stated. The other ground argued the Federal Court preferred 'delayed, contradictory and memory-impaired' eyewitness accounts over Australian Defence Force (ADF) operational records. This was in relation to Roberts-Smith's involvement in the murder of two prisoners at a compound called Whiskey 108 in 2009, the murder of a handcuffed shepherd Ali Jan at Darwan in 2012, and Roberts-Smith directing members of the Afghan partner forces to shoot a man following the discovery of a cache of weapons during an operation at Chinartu. The application argues the findings of war crimes couldn't be reached to the requisite standard under the Evidence Act as they relied on 'inconsistent and memory-impaired recollections' from more than a decade after the events and despite 'exculpatory' ADF operational records. ADF records document 'lawful engagements and no executions' and would-be engagements 'consistent with the laws of armed conflict', Roberts-Smith claims. Further, the application claims the records were discounted on 'speculative or flawed grounds', including by treating them as 'no more than repetitions of the applicant's account' or rejecting them on 'asserted inconsistencies that arose only at trial and were not evident at the time of reporting' in the cases of Darwan and Chinartu. Finally, it argued that the findings were reached without the 'criminal-trial safeguards of a jury, prosecutorial disclosure and proof beyond reasonable doubt', and the Evidence Act had been misapplied in regard to the satisfaction of 'facts tantamount to criminal guilt'. Roberts-Smith continues to deny the allegations, last month releasing a statement that said: 'Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant, and I believe one day soon the truth will prevail.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nuremberg Release Date Set for Russell Crowe & Rami Malek WWII Movie
Sony Pictures Classics has officially announced the release date, after acquiring the theatrical distribution rights to the upcoming historical drama. The movie is based on Jack El-Hail's 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiarist. 'It chronicles the true story of the eponymous trials held by the Allies against the defeated Nazi regime,' reads the official synopsis. 'The film centers on American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their war crimes and finds himself in a complex battle of wits with Hermann Göring, Hitler's right-hand man.' Nuremberg has now been scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 7, 2025, pitting it directly against two highly anticipated movies Predator: Badlands and The Running Man. It will also be debuting in the same month as high-profile movies such as Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Wicked: For Good, and Zootopia 2. The film is written and directed by Zodiac filmmaker James Vanderbilt. The ensemble cast includes Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O'Brien, Lydia Peckham, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lotte Verbeek, and Andreas Pietschmann. It is produced by Vanderbilt, Richard Saperstein, Bradley J. Fischer, William Sherak, Frank Smith, Benjamin Tappan, Cherilyn Hawrysh, István Major, and George Freeman. Executive producers are Jack El-Hai, Brooke Saperstein, Annie Saperstein, Beau Turpin, W. Porter Payne, Jr., Paul Neinstein, and Széchenyi Funds Géza Deme and Tamás Hajnal. 'I am beyond thrilled to be reuniting with Michael and Tom and the whole Sony Pictures Classics team, who ten years ago took a chance on me as a first-time director, and whose legacy of championing great films makes them an incredible partner,' Vanderbilt said in a statement. 'Nuremberg explores the fragile boundary between justice and vengeance in the aftermath of unimaginable atrocity. As we approach the 80th anniversary of this unprecedented moment in history, this story feels more urgent than ever, and I can't wait for audiences to see it on the big screen.' The post Nuremberg Release Date Set for Russell Crowe & Rami Malek WWII Movie appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
Israeli TikTok trend mocks bombed Iranian TV presenter
NewsFeed Israeli TikTok trend mocks bombed Iranian TV presenter Israeli social media users have gone viral for videos mocking an Iranian TV anchor whose live broadcast was interrupted by an Israeli bombing, mimicking her clothes and her reaction to the attack. Some comments criticised the videos as a 'despicable' celebration of war crimes.
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Iran's Khamenei 'will be held accountable' over hospital strike: Israeli minister
Israel's defense minister said Thursday that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be "held accountable" after an Iranian strike on a hospital in Israel, adding he had ordered the army to "intensify strikes" on the Islamic republic. "These are some of the most serious war crimes -- and Khamenei will be held accountable for his actions," Israel Katz said, adding that he and the prime minister ordered the military "to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and against the power infrastructure in Tehran, to eliminate the threats to the state of Israel and to shake the Ayatollahs' regime." AFP
National Post
a day ago
- Politics
- National Post
Steven Wernick: The double standard that treats Modi like a hero and Netanyahu like a villain
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government faces credible allegations of orchestrating the political assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, was welcomed by world leaders at the G7 summit in Canada without hesitation. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who's controversial, but is the leader of a democratic state that's under attack — is threatened with arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for defending his citizens after one of the most horrific terrorist attacks since 9/11. Article content Article content This is not just hypocrisy, it's a distortion of justice. Of course, no democracy is above scrutiny. Legitimate criticism of Israel's wartime conduct — its proportionality, its humanitarian policies, its political leadership — is not only warranted, but necessary. Democracies thrive on accountability. But there is a profound difference between such critiques and the morally bankrupt equivalence that treats a sovereign state defending its citizens as indistinguishable from terrorists who deliberately target civilians. Article content Article content Article content Let's be clear: Netanyahu is far from a flawless leader. His judicial reform agenda has shaken Israeli democracy, and his coalition includes extremist elements that many Jews find abhorrent. He deserves political accountability. But legal accountability for war crimes? That's a bridge too far — especially when the ICC treats a country defending itself from terrorism as morally equivalent to a terror group that proudly live-streams its own atrocities. Article content Article content On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 people — including babies, women and elderly Holocaust survivors — raping and mutilating civilians, and kidnapping more than 250. Fifty-three living and murdered people remain in captivity. That day shattered Israeli society and Jewish communities around the world. It was an unprovoked genocidal assault. Article content Article content Since then, Israel has waged war in Gaza. Thousands have died, and the suffering is real. But the war could have ended months ago, and it could end now, if Hamas accepted any of the multiple ceasefire and hostage-release proposals brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas has rejected every one. Every day that hostages remain in Hamas captivity prolongs the war and the suffering of civilians on both sides. Article content Let's not pretend this is about proportionality or international law. If it were, the ICC would not ignore the fact that Hamas deliberately embeds its military infrastructure beneath hospitals, schools and apartment buildings. Nor would it ignore the difference between a democratic country's military operating under civilian oversight, and a terror group that glorifies martyrdom and uses its own people as human shields. The ICC's pursuit of Israeli leaders while delaying full investigations into far more egregious violations by Russia, Syria and others undermines its own credibility as an impartial institution of justice.
