This afternoon, charges were brought against Ben Roberts-Smith, accusing him of five war crimes, including the murder of Afghan nationals between 2009 and 2012.

Following the news of his arrest, Pauline Hanson, leader of the One Nation party, and former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed their unwavering support for the decorated Victoria Cross recipient through social media.

Hanson stated, “I remain steadfast in my support of Ben Roberts-Smith despite the news of his arrest today.”

She emphasized that now, more than ever, Roberts-Smith and his defense community need the backing of the Australian public, assuring, “I will not abandon him like so many other politicians.”

Hanson further criticized the manner of his arrest, noting that it occurred publicly in front of his 15-year-old twin daughters.

She highlighted the legal challenges ahead, stating, “He will be held in jail for seven days with only one opportunity to apply for bail. If the application is denied, he could be detained for up to two years.”

“AFP and OSI have spent $300 million over 10 years to get to this point.”

Abbott extended his “instinctive sympathy” to soldiers from the Afghanistan campaign and criticised the timeline of the criminal case against Roberts-Smith.

“As prime minister during multiple deployments, and having spent time with our troops in war-zones, I could not have asked for a more loyal and professional military and my respect for their service is undiminished,” Abbott wrote in a post to Facebook.

“If Ben Roberts-Smith transgressed, why wasn’t this picked up prior to his gallantry awards and why wasn’t any culture of brutality towards prisoners detected by his more senior officers, and dealt with quickly, rather than being allowed to fester, as has been alleged, for over a decade?”

“After doing their best to serve our country, dozens of former special forces soldiers should not still be in limbo years later because of ongoing investigations that have only resulted in charges in two cases.”

It was “wrong to judge the actions of men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life”, Abbott noted in his post.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. If evidence is clear, and cases are strong, they should be brought and concluded without delay.

“Otherwise, people should be cleared to get on with their lives lest the process itself become the punishment.

“In Afghanistan, our soldiers fought bravely and well for a just cause. I am very sorry that some of them have been subjected to a form of persecution by the country they served.”

The controversial political figures’ defiant support comes hours after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned against politicising Roberts-Smith’s arrest and pending charges.

“That is a matter that it’s very important that there not be political engagement in what is a matter that is now the subject of legal proceedings,” Albanese said.

“I have no intention of prejudicing a matter that clearly is a legal matter and that’s before the courts and any comment would do so.”

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said, “The vast majority of our special forces do the right thing”.

“They are incredible people serving this nation and playing an extremely difficult role,” he said.

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