The Human Rights Law Centre andAustralian Centre for International Justice arecalling for an end to the unjust prosecution of war crimes whistleblower David McBride, as his whistleblowing defence hearing begins in Canberra on Thursday.
McBride is alleged to have blown the whistle to the ABC, in what led to the Afghan Files reporting, which uncovered allegations of war crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. Similar allegations about unlawful killings of civilians were made in the Brereton Report in 2020.
McBride was subsequently charged with five offences, including the unauthorised disclosure of information, theft of Commonwealth property and three counts of breaching theDefence Act. The ABC was raided by federal police over the reporting, although prosecutors declined to proceed with a case against journalist Dan Oakes.
On Thursday, McBride’s trial will begin with a defence under thePublic Interest Disclosure Act, the federal whistleblowing law, before a judge in the ACT Supreme Court. If McBride is unsuccessful in his defence, he will face a jury next year.
Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:
“David McBride is currently the only person facing prosecution for the alleged war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan. And he’s on trial for telling the truth about those allegations. There is no public interest in prosecuting whistleblowers. This case is unjust and anti-democratic.”
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