Ben Roberts-Smith: How decorated soldier's defamation case has rocked Australia

For months on end, Australia's most-decorated living soldier sat stoically in a Sydney courtroom as dozens of witnesses accused him of war crimes, bullying peers, and assaulting his mistress.

But Ben Roberts-Smith was not the one on trial.

The 44-year-old had brought the case, suing three Australian newspapers over a series of articles in 2018 which he says defamed him. He argues they ruined his life by painting him as a callous man who had broken the moral and legal rules of war, disgracing his country in the process.

But the media outlets say they reported the truth, and have set out to prove it.

It is the first time in history any court has been tasked with assessing allegations of war crimes by Australian forces.