David McBride faces a life sentence for allegedly leaking information about alleged Afghan War crimes to the media. Ahead of his three-week trial in Canberra, he told SBS News how he's feeling.
The trial of a former army lawyer, facing a life sentence of 100 years, who allegedly revealed information about alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan, has started. David McBride, who served in the British and Australian armies, will front a jury at the ACT Supreme Court for the next three weeks, for allegedly leaking classified documents. He is facing five charges, including theft of commonwealth property, breaching the Defence Act and unauthorised disclosure of information.
The leaked records revealed alleged war crimes committed by Australian soldiers during the war in Afghanistan, with the ABC using them to create the Afghan Files report in 2017. Three years later, the ADF inspector-general reviewed McBride's claims in the Brereton report - a four-year investigation into alleged misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.