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Australia jails Afghanistan war crimes whistle-blower for leaking secret defence files
- David McBride, a former army lawyer, was sentenced to more than five years in prison by Australia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday
- The files he leaked to the media led to revelations about Australian soldiers’ involvement in the illegal killings of unarmed Afghan men and children
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An Australian judge sentenced a former army lawyer to more than five years in prison on Tuesday for stealing secret defence files on the Afghanistan war and leaking them to the media.
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David McBride, who pleaded guilty in November to three charges of stealing and sharing military information, was given five years and eight months’ imprisonment, Australian media reports said.
McBride must serve a minimum of two years and three months before being eligible for parole, they said, after the ruling by Justice David Mossop in the Australian Capital Territory’s Supreme Court in Canberra.
Public broadcaster ABC said it used the leaked material for the “Afghan Files”, a 2017 series alleging that Australian soldiers were involved in the illegal killings of unarmed men and children in Afghanistan.
McBride’s lawyer, Mark Davis, said outside the court he would be launching an appeal, a decision greeted by applause from a gathering of supporters.
The appeal would be based on the question of what “duty” means, he said.
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