Singo jumps to BRS’ defence with bold act

Australian businessman John Singleton has launched an impassioned public defence of Ben Robert-Smith by taking out a full-page ad in The Australian.

Under the heading “An apology to Ben Roberts-Smith. From a coward” Mr Singleton lauded the Victoria Cross winner’s “courage, strength, commitment,” which was published on page five of Saturday’s Weekend Australian.

Mr Singleton praised Mr Roberts-Smith’s bravery, while admitting that he had himself “dodged Vietnam”.

“Our vets risked their lives for us. Were we there?” Mr Singleton wrote underneath a picture of Mr Roberts-Smith on duty in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith sued the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Canberra Times in 2018 over reporting of war crime allegations relating to his deployment in Afghanistan.

Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko dismissed the suit, finding that Mr Roberts-Smith was involved in the unlawful killings of four prisoners in Afghanistan.

The findings were made to the civil standard – on the balance of probabilities – which is below the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt and he has maintained his innocence.

Mr Roberts-Smith has launched an appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court, with the matter now awaiting judgment after a hearing earlier this year.

Mr Singleton described Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan as “god forsaken” which “had nothing to do with Australia.”

“The fair story is that in a cave or hidden behind a desert rock, the SAS soldiers wait while innocent Afghans walk on past – are they innocent? Are they location mules?” he wrote.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Were you?

“In that awful moment the soldier has to react. Someone has to pull the trigger. Kill or be killed.”

He described the treatment of Mr Roberts-Smith as “disgraceful stuff”.

“They target big, tough, impressive VC winner … not given to showing any public exterior,” Mr Singleton wrote.

“Ben Roberts-Smith can pay for it with his reputation.”

He said that Mr Roberts-Smith “killed as soldiers do, but is now guilty of doing his job”.

Mr Singleton ended the ad with “Thank Christ for Kerry Stokes”, a reference to the media mogul who funded Mr Roberts-Smith’s court proceedings.