A whistleblower who helped expose allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan has been sentenced to five years and eight months in jail.
David McBride pleaded guilty to stealing and sharing military secrets on the eve of his trial last year, after legal rulings sunk his defence.
An ex-military lawyer, McBride said he was felt a moral duty to speak up.
A landmark inquiry later found evidence that Australian forces had unlawfully killed 39 Afghans during the war.
McBride is the first person in Australia to be jailed over the war crimes allegations his leak helped expose.
The 60-year-old admits he gave troves of documents to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), saying he was concerned about the attitudes of commanders and what he then thought was the “over-investigation” of troops, the court heard.
The information he provided underpinned a series of reports in 2017 called The Afghan Files, which gave unprecedented insight into the operations of Australia’s elite special forces in Afghanistan, and contained allegations of war crimes.
Prosecutors argued McBride was motivated by “personal vindication”, and that the way he gathered, stored and then leaked the documents endangered Australia’s national security and foreign policy.
But McBride’s lawyers asked for leniency, saying he shared the information with “honourable” intentions and out of a sense of personal duty.
When sentencing the 60-year-old in the nation’s capital on Tuesday, Justice David Mossop agreed McBride was of “good character” but said that he seemed to have become obsessed with the correctness of his own opinions.
Ahead of his sentencing, McBride maintained that his leak was justified as it had ultimately exposed wrongdoing.
“I did not break my oath to the people of Australia and the soldiers that keep us safe,” he said, addressing a crowd of supporters which included Stella Assange and fellow whistleblower Jeff Morris.
His case has sparked uproar in Australia, putting a spotlight on what some say are flimsy whistleblower protections and slow progress towards prosecuting soldiers alleged to have killed with impunity under its flag.
