Whistleblower McBride Wins Leave to Appeal
Australian military whistleblower David McBride was back in the Canberra Supreme Court on Wednesday. He sought and obtained leave to appeal after being sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in May this year, for handing evidence of alleged war crimes by the Australian military in Afghanistan to Australia's national broadcaster.
Consortium News was present in the courtroom, where McBride was greeted by a full house of enthusiastic supporters. Despite the appeal being lodged outside of the normal 28-day limit, it was expected to be 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 due, he said, to "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". 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 said it could not commit until October 17, at which time another hearing has been set for confirmation by all the parties. We 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 severity of sentence, but in being granted parole. He explained that there is no independent parole board in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the decision is made by the Attorney General Richard Marles, who decided to prosecute McBride in the first place.
Speakers:
Craig Andrews, Alliance for Political Prosecutions
Emma Davidson, Greens Minister for Prisoners & Veterans, ACT
Cathy Vogan, journalist at Consortium News
Graeme Dunstan, peace and justice activist
Senator David Shoebridge, Federal Greens Spokesperson for Justice
Video and reporting: Cathy Vogan
