The prosecution of war crimes whistleblower David McBride will deter whistleblowers and undermine press freedom, a coalition of civil society groups and unions have said on the opening day of McBride’s trial.
McBride is on trial for leaking documents to the ABC that formed the basis for the ‘Afghan Files’ which detailed war crimes in Afghanistan. McBride is the first person on trial in relation to these war crimes – a whistleblower, not an alleged war criminal.
The Albanese Government has resisted calls to intervene. McBride pleaded a defence under whistleblowing law, but had to withdraw it last year following a national security intervention by the government.
The trial in the ACT Supreme Court is expected to run for three weeks. If convicted, McBride could be sentenced to imprisonment.
Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre, said:
“There is no public interest in prosecuting whistleblowers. Today is a dark day for Australian democracy. The truth is on trial.”
Rex Patrick, former Senator and founder, Whistleblower Justice Fund, said:
“The Albanese Government had the power to stop this – and yet they didn’t. We may now see one brave whistleblower behind bars and thousands of prospective whistleblowers lost from the community. There was no public interest in this prosecution and that things have come to this is a blight on this Government’s pre-election commitment to foster and protect whistleblowers.”
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