Former SAS veteran arrested as part of war crimes investigation into killing of an Afghan man in a field
- Police have arrested an SAS veteran over alleged war crime
- Oliver Schulz allegedly shot unarmed Afghan man in field
- Arrest comes after two year investigation following TV show
A former decorated SAS veteran has been arrested by police probing alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan after a two year investigation.
Video footage of former trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, allegedly shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan in 2012, was broadcast in Killing Fields, an episode of ABC’s Four Corners in 2020.
Australian Federal Police is understood to have arrested Schulz at an address in Goulburn in the NSW Southern Highlands on Monday morning.
Footage showed Australian SAS troops allegedly shooting an unarmed Afghan man in a field
Schulz – who was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan – is now expected to be the first Australian Defence Force member to be charged with a war crime under Australian law, reported the ABC.
The Office of the Special Investigator – believed to be made up of homicide detectives and an intelligence officer – was set up to probe alleged war crimes.
It followed an inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force inquiry led by Paul Brereton, an Army Reserve major general and NSW Supreme Court judge.
Australian Federal Police was reportedly assisted by NSW Police in Monday’s operation.
‘A joint investigation between the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) and the AFP has today resulted in the arrest of a New South Wales man,’ confirmed the AFP in a statement.
‘It is expected he will be charged with one count of War Crime—Murder under subsection 268.70(1) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
‘Investigators arrested the man, 41, in regional NSW this morning and he is expected to appear in a NSW Local Court later today.
‘ It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force.
‘The maximum penalty for a War Crime—Murder offence is life imprisonment.’
The atetemtn added: ‘The OSI and AFP are working together to investigate allegations breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
‘As the matter will be before the court and the investigation is ongoing, no further comment will be made.’
