Decorated war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has agreed to stand down from his role at Channel 7 as his legal battle with Channel 9 proceeds.
The Australian soldier is going after The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald after they both published reports of alleged war crimes and domestic violence allegations.
The lawsuit is due to go to trial in June.
On Monday, Seven West Media chief executive officer James Warburton said Mr Roberts-Smith would be taking leave from his role as the general manager of 7Queensland to focus on the court battle ahead of him.
“I wanted to let you know that Ben Roberts-Smith will take leave from his role as general manager, Seven Brisbane and 7Queensland, to focus on his upcoming legal matters,” Mr Warburton said in an email to staff.
“Ben’s leave will start today. Ben and I believe this mutual decision is best for both him and our company. We expect Ben to return to his role upon the completion of his defamation proceedings.”
The trial between the major media outlets and the Victoria Cross recipient is expected to last for eight weeks.
Mr Warburton says he is unlikely to return to work until September.
The war soldier is suing Nine News for defamation after articles claimed that the AFP was investigating allegations that Mr Roberts-Smith was involved in killing six Afghan civilians.
The brutal murders were claimed to have taken place outside of combat while he was deployed in the Middle East.
The allegations include that he pushed a handcuffed farmer off of a cliff.
Images: Supplied
A series of newspapers also alleged that he was investigated for punching a woman in the face in Australia in 2018, though he denies those claims.
