Former military lawyer David McBride has won the right to appeal his conviction for blowing the whistle on Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. Cathy Vogan reports from Canberra for Consortium News.
By Cathy Vogan
in Canberra, Australia
Special to Consortium News
Australian military whistleblower David McBride was back in the Canberra Supreme Court on Wednesday where he won leave to appeal his conviction for leaking evidence of alleged war crimes by the Australian military in Afghanistan to Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC. McBride was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in May.
The former military lawyer was forced to plead guilty to stealing and leaking the classified documents to the media after he was essentially denied a defense at his trial last November. McBride’s defense had rested on the court accepting his argument that his oath to the British crown gave him a duty beyond obedience to military orders to instead inform the entire nation of government wrongdoing. The court rejected that argument.
Consortium News was present in the courtroom Wednesday where McBride was greeted by a full house of enthusiastic supporters. Despite McBride’s appeal being lodged outside of the normal 28-day limit, it became a “rubber stamp affair” according to Craig Andrews from the Alliance Against Political Prosecutions, who hosted a speaking event outside the court before proceedings began.
This was because of “delays on the government side, a change in the legal team and due to permissions that had to be granted to the legal team for them to investigate certain documents,” Andrews said. There was no judge presiding, only a registrar, who immediately announced that leave had been granted. The rest of the short session was spent trying to set a date.
The court wanted to lock in McBride’s appeal for the week beginning March 3 of next year, but the Crown prosecutors said it could not commit until Oct. 17, at which time another hearing has been set for confirmation by all the parties.
Appealed will be the conviction, regarding the issue of duty, and the severity of the sentence.
Consortium News later spoke with Senator David Shoebridge, federal Greens spokesperson for justice, who outlined many of the difficulties McBride and his lawyer Eddie Lloyd face, not only in appealing the conviction and the severity of sentence, but in being granted parole.
Shoebridge, for instance, explained that there is no independent parole board in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the decision on parole will be made by Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, who decided to prosecute McBride in the first place.
Speakers in Video
Craig Andrews, Alliance for Political Prosecutions
Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Mental Health, Veterans and Corrections
Cathy Vogan, journalist at Consortium News
Graeme Dunstan, peace and justice activist
Senator David Shoebridge, Federal Greens Spokesperson for Justice, in interview with CN Live!
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Let us assume a hypothetical situation not unlike Australian troops committing war crimes.
Certain elements in the Australian Military are plotting a revolution; a primary aspect being the execution of the Justices of the Australian Supreme Court. Upon becoming aware of this dastardly plot, Mr. McBride steals and leaks certain classified documents to the media, thereby directly disobeying a direct order, but preventing the executions.
Does the Supreme Court still conclude Mr. McBride has a duty of strict obedience to military orders?