One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has compared her own experience of being jailed for electoral fraud more than 20 years ago to the charges faced by alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, saying she knows what the ex-Special Air Services soldier is “going through”.
The Victoria Cross recipient was arrested on April 7 and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service in Afghanistan. He has vehemently denied the allegations.
The ABC reported that Senator Hanson, speaking to Mr Roberts-Smith’s supporters at an event in Brisbane, said she had “been in Ben Roberts-Smith’s shoes, as far as facing a criminal trial”. Senator Hanson was sentenced to three years in jail in August 2003 after being found guilty of electoral fraud. She spent 11 weeks in prison before the conviction was overturned by the Queensland Court of Appeal.
“I’ve been there, and it’s a distressing time, especially when you know you’re innocent, and I think Ben needs to know that people are supportive of him,” she said on Sunday.
“In some ways, I know exactly what he’s going through.”
Senator Hanson – a staunch supporter of Mr Roberts-Smith – did not rule out the prospect of the ex-soldier one day running on the One Nation ticket. But she added it would be “unfair” to put “that pressure on him”. “He’s going through a hell of a thing at the moment,” she said.
Senator Hanson later acknowledged having spoken to Mr Roberts-Smith and his parents several times since his arrest. “I’m not going to judge him, I can’t, that’s up to the courts now,” she said.
After his arrest, Mr Roberts-Smith released a public statement on April 19 saying he was proud of his service in Afghanistan. “While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training and within the rules of engagement,” he said.
He was “extremely proud” of the men and women who served alongside him in Afghanistan, particularly those who he said paid the “ultimate sacrifice”, he said.
He thanked his supporters, whose well-wishes meant a “great deal” to him and were “extremely humbling”.
