One Nation leader Pauline Hanson tells rally Ben Roberts-Smith is a person ‘I respect and I admire’

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, told a rally in support of Ben Roberts-Smith that the former soldier accused of war crimes is a person “I respect and I admire”, before its organiser called for “an army of civilians” to support him. About 100 supporters gathered in Rocks Riverside Park in Seventeen Mile Rocks in southern Brisbane on Sunday. One bore a sign calling for him to be elected prime minister, while others simply carried the Australian flag, or wore T-shirts calling for “justice for Ben”. Hanson told the crowd that the former Special Air Service Regiment soldier – who was arrested and charged with war crimes in April – was a “war hero”. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The Victoria Cross recipient faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan. He has categorically denied all of the allegations. “I think that we see Ben as one of our own. When we see what’s happened to him, you basically sort of think, well, what’s next?” Hanson said. “Is this the country that I grew up in? Is this the country I want to hand on to my children and grandchildren?” The senator compared Roberts-Smith’s prosecution to her 2003 jailing for electoral fraud . Her conviction was later overturned and she was acquitted. “These men and women are trained to fight, and a lot of the time to fight for their life,” she said. …