Meanwhile, this guy who was found by the Federal Court of Australia to have committed war crimes including the murder of civilians is walking free.
A fuller detailing of the case is available from this news article:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-14/military-whistleblowe...
While this article is from the nationally funded news broadcaster it is the same news organisation that McBride provided the documents to - which were then used to produce 7 stories, leading to it being raided and the follow-on events. Detailed information of that is available here:
This was somewhat underreported internationally: McBride was whistleblowing because he was dissatisfied with military leadership and the *increased* scrutiny of soldiers.
Ironically, this led to further scrutiny and the identification of alleged war crimes.
"Two experts were set to support McBride’s case, but commonwealth lawyers sought to have their testimony quashed under public interest immunity laws. The laws suppress information that would prejudice the public interest if they were made public. "
I have a hard time understanding why they couldn't do a closed court hearing, is that not an option in Australia?
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/oct/27/david-mcbride-af...
Surprised to see this on HN.
Contentious and depressing outcome, however rarely with classified documents does a judge rule the ends justified the means.
"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
(P.S. Good luck, David. The international community stands with you.)
Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.
George Orwell.
Also, think of Assange, still in high security jail in UK without being condemned to anything in this country : the very definition of arbitrary detention and torture.
Similarly there are still a number of prisoners in Guantanamo illegal prison, some having been there for decades. The very definition of arbitrary detention and torture.
The "West" (the US and their lackeys) has lost any semblance of moral high ground, but keep pointing fingers. That's shameful and despicable.
Can't we just declare him a larrikin and talk about him at Anzac day?
"Sharing classified documents...". That's a very complicated issue. If those documents put (innocent) people and national safety in risk he is in a very hard to defend position.
What an absolute legend of a man
First Australian to go to jail over Afghanistan & Iraq is a whistle-blower. Truly a kangaroo legal system.
I find it hard to blame the judge here, it is their duty to discharge the law as written.
However Australia's laws are inherently anti-whistle-blower and IMO therefore anti-democratic. How are the people expected to hold their leaders accountable if their leaders are legally allowed to deceive them and punish any who would expose that deceit?
Claiming that "national security" should somehow trump what are meant to be the most core tenets of our society is just simply more proof that the ruling class considers themselves above criticism, even if it costs the truth to snuff it out.
Why is it we can have a government that is so consistently anti-Australian? The politics of it don't seem to matter because swapping parties in and out hasn't had any impact. Both sides of the ruling class still believe they are above us while still preaching tall-poppy syndrome for the rest of us.
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I'm all for whistleblower protection and don't think he should be serving time, based on the 15 minutes I've been aware of this, (so don't take this "but" the wrong way)
but,
What exactly was he blowing the whistle about?
> McBride had become dissatisfied with military leadership and increased scrutiny of soldiers.
> McBride's lawyers told the court that he had leaked information in an attempt to bring awareness to excessive investigation of soldiers.
What? Is he a counter-whistle blower? What am I missing?
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McBride_(whistleblower...]
Follow-up:
Ok this article makes it make a bit more sense: https://apnews.com/article/mcbride-whistleblower-court-priso...
> McBride’s documents formed the basis of an Australian Broadcasting Corp. seven-part television series in 2017 that contained war crime allegations including Australian Special Air Service Regiment soldiers killing unarmed Afghan men and children in 2013.
> McBride’s argument that his suspicions that the higher echelons of the Australian Defense Force were engaged in criminal activity obliged him to disclose classified papers “didn’t reflect reality,” Mossop said.
What a weird time, when it's safer to be a war crime whistle blower than an airliner whistleblower.
I don't know the particulars of this person, the case, etc to comment on them so I won't. However, I will say that 'classified' has often become a way to hide actions that governments and individuals don't want the public to see instead of hiding things in order to protect the public.
I think countries need laws on the duration of classification that get to the heart of national security vs public interest. I think a core issue is that classified information should come out within the lifetime of people involved with very few exceptions. Additionally, crimes found after declassification should have automatic statute of limitation renewals.
One system that may work could be automatic mandatory release unless renewed at a higher level of classification. Every time material is elevated it should require the highest level of administration to approve renewal. Additionally, when things are declassified they should be publicly advertised in some way so that records requests can find them.
There is a need for classified materials, but there should be a high bar to make them and a low bar to release them in order to avoid the government using them as a shield to hid activities they don't want the public to see.