Australian accused of Afghanistan war crime pleads not guilty but trial held until at least 2027
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SYDNEY (AP) — The only Australian soldier to be charged with a war crime in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty Friday, but a prosecutor said he is unlikely to stand trial before 2027.
Oliver Schulz, 44, is accused of shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad three times in the head in an Uruzgan province wheat field in May 2012.
Schulz made his first appearance in the New South Wales state Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday and pleaded not guilty to the war crime of murder.
A trial date would usually be set on such an appearance, but national security concerns have prevented prosecutors and defense lawyers from seeing much of the evidence against the former Special Air Service Regiment elite soldier.
“There is no realistic prospect of a trial beginning in 2026,” prosecutor Sean Flood told Justice Peter Hamill.
Schulz’s lawyer Phillip Boulton agreed.
“I understand the importance of getting a trial date in a normal case,” Boulton said. “This is not a normal case.”
Schulz will appear in court again on Dec. 12, by which time the defense department is expected to have told trial lawyers what information will be suppressed for national security reasons.
An Australian military report released in 2020 recommended 19 current and former soldiers face criminal investigations over 39 unlawful killings in Afghanistan. Schulz was charged in March 2023.
An Australian civil court found the nation’s most highly decorated veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, had likely unlawfully killed four unarmed Afghans under Australian soldiers’ control between 2009 and 2012.
The court had rejected Roberts-Smiths’ claim that he was defamed by news media that accused him of war crimes. But Roberts-Smith has not been criminally charged with any offenses, which would need to be proved to the higher legal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
The only Australian veteran to be convicted over war crime allegations in Afghanistan has been whistleblower David McBride. The former army lawyer was sentenced last year to five years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to charges associated with leaking allegations of war crimes to the media.
Classified documents provided by McBride became the source of a series of Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports in 2017 called the “Afghan Files.” The reports detailed allegations against Australian soldiers including the unlawful killing of men and children.