Aussie special forces soldier to be charged with Afghanistan war crime
A former Australian soldier who served in Afghanistan has been arrested and is expected to be charged with a war crime by federal police.
**STOCK** An Australian Defence Force soldier, Sydney, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. (AAP Image/April Fonti) NO ARCHIVING
The man was arrested on Monday morning in regional NSW and is expected to appear in court later on Monday.
The AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) said the 41-year-old man will be charged with one count of war crime – murder, a punishment that carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
The man has been identified by the ABC and News Corp as former special forces soldier Oliver Schulz.
It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force.
A joint statement by the AFP and the OSI said they were working 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.
