Encrypted messages suggest Nine’s eye-witness to an alleged war crime discussed “compensation” before testifying against Ben Roberts-Smith and then lied about it, the elite soldier’s lawyers have told a court.
Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation lawsuit against Nine newspapers was formally halted on Monday morning due to Sydney’s coronavirus outbreak.
November 1 has been pencilled in as the hopeful return.
But the routine administrative hearing took a dramatic turn when Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Arthur Moses SC, told the court newly revealed messages cast doubt on Nine’s most important witness so far.
Last week, Afghan villager Mohammed Hanifa told the court he watched as a “big soldier” kicked his handcuffed uncle, Ali Jan, down a steep drop in their village of Darwan.
The court has heard the badly injured Ali Jan was allegedly dragged across the dry creek bed below before being shot dead on the orders of the SAS during a 2012 raid.
Mr Hanifa said his uncle was no Taliban fighter and was just a poor labourer from the Afghan mountains.
Mr Roberts-Smith‘s legal team suggested he was lying about the identity of the man shot in Darwan, claiming the man shot dead near the creek was a Taliban spotter carrying a radio.
Mr Moses said WhatsApp messages between Nine‘s legal team and their “fixer” in Afghanistan called into question Mr Hanifa’s credibility.
The fixer told Nine Mr Hanifa said he’d spoken to Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission about money for those affected by the raid, Mr Moses said.
“The HRC director tells Hanifa some compensation will be provided to affected families by Australians through the HRC in (the region‘s capital) Tarin Kowt,” Mr Moses said.
“(Hanifa) is told there are two groups against each other — one group is facing justice.”
Mr Hanifa, in court, denied speaking with anyone from the human rights agency and said no compensation for the raid had ever been offered.
“I haven't done that, I haven’t talked to anyone,” Mr Hanifa had told the court in his evidence last week.
“The WhatsApp messages record a prior inconsistent statement of Mr Hanifa,” Mr Moses said.
Nine had not called their agent to explain the messages, Mr Moses said, and it was “on their head” to provide the context if they wanted.
Mr Hanifa, his father and another Darwan villager spent last week telling the court they witnessed all or part of the raid that claimed Ali Jan’s life.
Each described him as a poor labourer with no connection to the Taliban.
Mr Roberts-Smith’s other barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, last week suggested Mr Hanifa was promised compensation if he was related to the dead man.
Mr Hanifa denied that emphatically, saying “I am a witness, I am a witness,” repeatedly and adding that he grew up with Ali Jan.
Mr Hanifa knew, Mr McClintock claimed, the compensation would only be paid if Ali Jan was not a Taliban fighter.
Mr Hanifa, speaking through an interpreter, fervently denied any suggestion Ali Jan was “a Talib”.
“I’m not afraid of anybody, even if I die I will tell the truth - this is the Pashtun custom,” he told the court.
“This is the law. If you witness a crime you have to testify about it. Even if someone wants me to go to Australia, or the US, or any country in the world - I will testify Ali Jan was a labourer, a labourer, a labourer.”
https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2021-08-02 03:15:10Z
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