Demonstrators are rallying outside court in support of David McBride, who will learn his fate after pleading guilty to leaking classified information exposing alleged Australian war crimes.
McBride will be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court today after he pleaded guilty to three offences including stealing commonwealth information and passing it on to journalists.
He maintained he did his duty and didn’t regret shining a light on wrongdoing.
“I’ve never been so proud to be an Australian, I’ve never been so proud of my family and supporters,” he said outside court today.
Asked how he’d like to be seen, he told reporters: “As someone who stood up for Australian values”.
He also called on the attorney-general to drop his prosecution as the government reviewed whistleblower laws.
“Stop talking about doing the right thing and do the right thing,” he said.
The leaked documents led to reports about Australian special forces soldiers committing alleged war crimes.
An inquiry later found credible information about 23 incidents of potential war crimes, which involved the killing of 39 Afghans between 2005 and 2016.
Bernard Collaery, whose prosecution for leaking classified information was dropped by the attorney-general, said the sentencing would have a chilling effect on people who wanted to expose wrongdoing.
“Laws have been passed that have rendered the courts docile in face of anti-terrorism laws being misused on the people of Australia,” he told AAP outside court.
“I have that grim experience myself.”
The Canberra lawyer faced charges after he was accused of leaking classified information about an alleged Australian spying operation in East Timor.
“Whistleblowing has become ruinous, if you have to resort to the whistle now you will be ruined. These laws really and truly need to be fixed.”
The sentencing is scheduled to take two days.
