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Thou shalt not embarrass Higher Ups who have chosen to overlook bad things being done.A former military lawyer turned whistleblower who disclosed information on alleged war crimes against his defence obligation had a higher duty to act in the public interest, his lawyer has told a Supreme Court judge, as the attorney-general warned his intervention in the case could set a dangerous precedent.
Stephen Odgers, SC, said his client David McBride, who is due to face a jury on several charges on Thursday, admitted to breaching orders not to disclose documents to journalists but said a Defence Force member’s obligation to uphold their duty sometimes meant disobeying orders.
“Was he acting in the course of his duty?” Odgers asked during a pretrial argument on Monday about how the concept of duty can be framed to the jury. “We say it doesn’t take long to appreciate that sometimes duties can conflict.
“If a soldier is confronted by enemy combatants who are surrounded by young children, there is, on one hand, a duty to remove the threat, there is also a duty to avoid [the loss] of civilian life.”
McBride, who arrived to a large crowd at the court complex on Monday morning, is facing five charges relating to the disclosure of classified documents between 2013 and 2017, including theft of Commonwealth property and breaching the Defence Act.
Moving through the crowd of more than 100 supporters with his support dog Jake by his side, the former army lawyer whose disclosures helped unearth allegations of Australian special forces committing war crimes in Afghanistan, held a fist in the air before addressing the crowd at the entrance of the court.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politi ... 5ejha.html