Under cover of national security

The public only found out the two had been charged, and would go on trial because an independent MP, using parliamentary privilege, brought the issue to public attention in parliament.

Disclosing information in the public interest is not a legal defence in Australia. The charges led to outrage and protest by Australian academics, lawyers, retired judges, and human rights NGOs. Some within the industry questioned the wisdom of bringing up charges and prolonging the issue in the public domain. Others argued that the prosecution was not in the public interest. Of particular concern was the secrecy of the trial, as an important legal principle is that justice should be seen to be done transparently, in public. The prosecution was also condemned as it appeared to lack independent and apolitical determinations.

The Australian government has been consistently intent on punishing whistle-blowers and making an example for those who might in the future be tempted to follow suit.

Other whistle-blowers who have been prosecuted by the Australian government in the past include Richard Boyle, an Australian Tax Office (ATO) whistle-blower, and David McBride, a military lawyer who leaked documents to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Australian authorities have resorted to intimidating journalists. In 2019, the Australian Federal Police raided the home of journalist Annika Smethurst and the Sydney headquarters of the ABC, in relation to leaked government documents regarding Afghan army operations.

On June 17, Witness K pleaded guilty in the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court and received a 12 month good behaviour bond, being spared jail. Lawyer Bernard Collaery, pleaded not guilty, believing there has been a gross injustice, where the case is set to continue.

Although both defendants are being treated as traitors in Australia, they are considered heroes in Timor Leste, with groups holding banners and wearing T-shirts in support of their cause.

The defendants in the above case were the ones who disclosed an illegal act, sanctioned by then foreign minister Alexander Downer and carried out by ASIS. There is a similarity of Australian government with attitude with the Julian Assange case in the UK, awaiting an appeal on his extradition to the United States. Assange through Wikileaks exposed illegal acts carried out by the US military in Iraq, and is facing a long list of charges in the United States. The Australian government has been complicit in the Assange case, under heavy criticism from human rights groups for not rendering him assistance, and negotiating him free passage back to Australia. 

National security has become a cover for mismanagement, wrongdoing, and illegal activities by bureaucracies and politicians that have things to hide, according to a former Australian intelligence operative. All the legal ploys and raids are aimed at punishing those who aspire to tell the public the truth. The secrecy of the trial appears to be a coverup for illegal activities sanctioned by the executive, and carried out by ASIS.

The Australian government has betrayed the excellent people to people relationships Australians had with the East Timorese, before the Indonesian invasion in 1975. Many within the Labor movement are disappointed with former prime minister Gough Whitlam who supported the Indonesian move to invade East Timor. The Howard government’s lukewarm response to assisting East Timor with peacekeepers, contradicts the Howard government narrative at the time of wholeheartedly supporting independence. Alexander Downer’s role in the Dili bugging, points to both a need for a Royal Commission on corruption within the national security framework, and a relook at how Australia treats whistle-blowers, and conducts its foreign relations with neighbouring countries in the future. Anti-terrorist legislation should not be used to prosecute and persecute lawyers, journalists, and whistle-blowers.