A former member of the Australian military has been charged with war crimes in connection with the death of an Afghan civilian. According to a joint statement from the OSI and the police, the 41-year-old man was arrested in New South Wales and charged with murder following a collaborative investigation between the OSI and the Australian Federal Police. The ex-soldier has been remanded in custody and will appear in court in Sydney at a later date.
"It will be alleged that he murdered an Afghan individual while serving with the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan," the statement added. If convicted, the former soldier, the first serving or former member of the Australian military to face war crimes accusations, faces life in prison. The man was not identified by the authorities. The OSI was established in the aftermath of the Brereton Report in 2020, which found "credible evidence" that some of Australia's elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 individuals while stationed in Afghanistan. It recommended that authorities examine 19 current or former members of the special forces in connection with 23 events involving the killing of "prisoners, farmers, or civilians" between 2009 and 2013. If a jury determined those killings to be "the war crime of murder," the inquiry concluded, and two other incidents to constitute "the war crime of cruel treatment." Some occurrences featured a single victim, while others involved many victims. It was also discovered that firearms had been put on some of the victims, and that junior soldiers were occasionally forced to shoot detainees as part of an initiation known as "blooding." The man charged has been named as Oliver Schulz, a decorated former special forces soldier who was shown in an inquiry shown in March 2020 killing an Afghan victim laying on the ground. After the documentary aired on television, he was discharged from the service. The OSI is looking into allegations that Australian soldiers committed war crimes between 2005 and 2016.
It has suggested that any charges be brought in front of a civilian court and jury.
