The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has ruled that the legality of Australian spying in East Timor has nothing to do with the accusations of whistleblower Bernard Collaery.
Correlie has been accused of illegally sharing confidential information about the East Timor eavesdropping operation by Australian authorities in 2004.
His defense team sought to summon the Secretary of the Australian Secret Information Agency (ASIS), the appropriate officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Secretary of the National Intelligence Service, and the Secretary of State. Prime Minister and Cabinet.
After Judge David Mosop revoked the subpoena in the ACT Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday, authorities do not need to hand over documents related to the alleged operation in East Timor.
The main question was whether the document was related to the case.
The defense’s allegations regarding the publication of the document focused on whether the actions allegedly carried out by ASIS in East Timor were within the statutory authority of intelligence agencies.
The defense argued that Collery’s accusation should be withdrawn if the alleged operation was illegal.
“If the crown could not be proved to comply with each of several specific provisions in the intelligence law beyond reasonable doubt, the accusation as a whole would not have been proved.” Said in connection with the defense submission.
In his decision, Judge Mosop found that the question of whether the intelligence agency acted within the parameters of its legal definition had nothing to do with Collery’s accusation of illegal disclosure of sensitive information. bottom.
Therefore, Judge Mossop concluded that the subpoena has no legitimate forensic purpose, given that these issues are not in question in court.
“The subpoena has no legitimate forensic purpose and must be set aside,” he wrote in the decision.
“The conclusion means that beyond reasonable doubt, there is no need to establish compliance with each possible relevant clause of the Information Services Act.”
Keeran Pender of the Human Rights Law Center has accused whistleblowers of prosecution.
“Simply put, even if the alleged espionage against East Timor was illegal under Australian law, Corelli could still be convicted of disclosing the operation, alleging it was against intelligence law. There is, “the senior lawyer wrote on Twitter.
“If whistleblowers are kept secret rather than dragged into court, the new government needs to amend the whistleblower law to make it easier for Australians to speak up about fraud safely and legally.”
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Australian Associated Press is an Australian news agency.