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Comment by resolutebat | Hacker News Reader

Meanwhile, this guy who was found by the Federal Court of Australia to have committed war crimes including the murder of civilians is walking free.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Roberts-Smith

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We can't send to jail, the same people the government previously praised as being national heroes. Discrediting him afterwards would also mean discrediting the government who didn't do their due diligence. So they'll cover for him in order to protect themselves. It's a story as old as humanity.

We (thus far) have not been able to send him to gaol because the civil standard of proof is on the balance of probabilities but the criminal standard is beyond a reasonable doubt. Ben Roberts-Smith has been shown to have committed war crimes on the balance of probabilities, but not beyond a reasonable doubt.

I think that the government would probably prefer he be locked up, since the current situation is the worst of both worlds: he is legally a war criminal, but remains embarrassingly free and unpunished by the criminal justice system.

Office of the Special Investigator (https://www.osi.gov.au) is the government agency that's running the criminal investigation.

Presumably the endless run of civil litigations has delayed the criminal cases to date

That’s why we change the government every x years, so they can blame it all on their predecessors.

I don't think I've read a wikipedia article about a person before that is as clear'n'cut as this is in detailing what an absolute shit the person is. Usually there is some back and forth arguments, but this is just straight up murdering and girlfriend beating asshole all the way.

He sued for defamation against the media organisations who exposed him and he lost _hard_. So all the facts that might ordinarily be in dispute and have tiptoe-around language to avoid being sued for can be stated plainly.

Wow, absolutely atrocious. There really is no justice for the victims of war, is there?

This guy must be a sociopath.

He has a Victoria Cross (Medal of Honor equivalent), you basically have to be mental and not care for your own life to get one, so we shouldn't turn around and be shocked when they don't value the lives of the enemy and their supporters.

Edit: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1270259

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