David McBride trial opens in Canberra

David McBride (photo: Michelle Kaldy)

David McBride, winner of Blueprint's International Whistleblowing Prize for 2022, has appeared in court in Australia to face five charges, including breaches of Australia's Defense Act and the unauthorised disclosure of information.

McBride, a military lawyer, revealed a series of war crimes committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan, which he believed were not being properly investigated. McBride's disclosures allegedly informed a major investigative series of reports from Australia's public broadcaster in 2018.

Notwithstanding the veracity of McBride's reports - he was largely vindicated by the conclusions of the official Brereton Report in 2020 - ABC's reporting led to an unprecedented attack by the Australian government, including the public broadcaster's studios being raided by the Australian Police Force in 2019.

While the investigation against the ABC journalists was eventually dropped, the charges against McBride remain. Breaches of Australia's Defense Act - and David McBride faces three such charges - carry a potentially unlimited fine or prison term.

In an interview recorded for our 2022 Prize broadcast, David McBride said:

"I could see that we were trying to make scapegoats of people who hadn't really done anything wrong, which I found very strange, while there were rumours of murders, slaughtering people basically....

"I came to the conclusion that we had become so cynical and we had made the mistake of lionising certain individuals who turned out to actually be bad and turned out to be likely to be the killers. But because everything was based aorund PR, we couldn't have our star players put on trial... And as an old school officer, that just made my blood boil."

Recognition of the wrongdoing committed by Special Forces in Afghanistan - both from Australia and elsewhere - have only increased in the years since McBride came forward. This summer, decorated Australian veteran Ben Roberts-Smith failed in a major defamation action. In a landmark ruling, Judge Anthony Besanko decided that several major Australian media outlets had indeed established that Roberts-Smith is a "war criminal", responsible for several murders of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in the UK a newly-opened public inquiry is currently investigating 80 instances where civilians were allegedly killed by the SAS.

In light of these developments, it may seem strange that the prosecution of McBride has reached court at all. Nevertheless, after McBride failed in his attempt to have this trial foreclosed by claiming rights under Australian whistleblowing legislation, that is were events have led. Speaking outside court on Monday morning, McBride challenged the Australian Prime Minister, saying:

“Today I serve my country... The question I have for you, Anthony Albanese, is who do you serve?”

A jury is expected to be empanneled this week. In the meantime, the court is hearing preliminary arguments, including whether David McBride was entitled to disclose information as part of an overriding duty to act in the public interest. The Australian government is also expected to move to keep some aspects of the proceedings secret.