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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/PleasantDiamond on 2024-05-17 18:27:14+00:00.
David McBride, an Australian whistleblower got sentenced to nearly 6 years in jail for sharing classified documents that revealed alleged war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afganistan.
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop rejected McBride’s case that he did not believe he was breaking the law, and found the offences were aggravated by his high security rating, which gave him access to the material.
The material released by McBride was used in the ABC’s The Afghan Files story, which revealed allegations that Australian soldiers were involved in illegal killings.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Mossop read excerpts from McBride’s interviews with Australian Federal Police officers, in which the former military lawyer said he believed it was his duty to expose illegal activity and that he always thought he would be vindicated at some point.
Justice Mossop told the court McBride’s comments made to police were “vague and unparticular” and did not demonstrate his genuine belief that he was not committing an offence.
Justice Mossop described McBride’s behaviour as “a gross breach of the trust proposed in him” as a legal officer in a sensitive position within the Australian Defence Force.
The court heard the journalists used it to publish stories revealing allegations Australian troops were involved in illegal killings in Afghanistan, even though that was at odds with McBride’s intention in sharing the documents.
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