Australian police have arrested a decorated former SAS soldier and will soon charge him with war crimes after he was allegedly caught on camera shooting an Afghan man in a field while deployed in Afghanistan.
Former Special Forces soldier Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested in regional NSW – reportedly in the Goulburn area – on Monday morning and was expected to face court later that day.
“It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force,” the Australian Federal Police said in a joint statement with the Office of the Special Investigator.
“The maximum penalty for a War Crime Murder offence is life imprisonment.”
Schulz’s arrest is the first made by AFP of a former Australian special forces soldier in relation to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, The Australian reported.
He’s accused of shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in the country’s southern Uruzgan province.
He is expected to be charged imminently over the alleged 2012 killing.
The AFP said the arrest was the result of a joint investigation by federal investigators and the OSI, which was set up to probe alleged war crimes following a damning inquiry into the Australian Defence Force.
“The OSI and AFP are working together to investigate allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016,” the AFP said.
It is understood the investigation into the alleged killing has been underway for more than two years.
“The OSI and AFP are working together to investigate allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016,” the AFP said.
It is understood the investigation into the alleged killing has been underway for more than two years.
- Chloe Whelan, news.com.au
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