David McBride: Australian military whistleblower jailed for leaking documents
A whistleblower who helped expose Australia’s alleged war crimes in Afghanistan has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.
David McBride pleaded guilty to stealing and sharing military secrets on the eve of his trial last year, after legal rulings doomed his defense.
As a former military lawyer, McBride said he felt a moral obligation to speak out.
A landmark investigation later found evidence that Australian forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghans during the war.
McBride was the first person in Australia to be jailed for alleged war crimes that his leaks helped expose.
The 60-year-old admitted he gave numerous documents to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), saying he was concerned about the attitude of commanders and what he later deemed “over-investigation”. about the military, the court said.
The information he provided underpinned a 2017 series of reports called the Afghanistan Papers, which gave unprecedented insight into the operations of Australia’s elite special forces in Afghanistan and contained allegations of war crimes.
Prosecutors argued that McBride was motivated by “personal vindication” and that the way he collected, stored and then leaked the documents would jeopardize the foreign policy and national security of the United States. Australia.
But McBride’s lawyers asked for leniency, saying he shared the information for “honorable” purposes and out of a sense of personal responsibility.
Sentencing the 60-year-old in the capital on Tuesday, Judge David Mossop agreed that McBride was of “good character” but said he seemed haunted by the correctness of his own views me.
Before sentencing, McBride asserted that his leak was justified because it ultimately exposed wrongdoing.
“I have not broken my oath to the Australian people and to the soldiers who keep us safe,” he told a crowd of supporters, including Stella Assange and whistleblower Jeff Morris.
His case has sparked outrage in Australia, highlighting what some see as lax protections for whistleblowers and slow progress in prosecuting soldiers accused of killing people with impunity under this country’s flag.
