FORMER Australian Army lawyer David McBride will spend potentially nearly six years of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty to stealing and sharing military secrets last year.
McBride said he felt a moral duty to speak up after a few years of working as a legal officer for the Australian army made him stumble on various military secrets that sparked uproar in the country.
The 60-year-old former military lawyer toured Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013. What he witnessed during his time in the military made him believe that the commanders had “crossed the line” between morality and the call of duty.
As he worked late at night, he secretly copied hundreds of sensitive documents and smuggled them home in a backpack over the course of 18 months or more.
He admitted to having shared more than 200 classified military documents with journalists linked to the alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.
A few years after his military service in Afghanistan, McBride suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as abuse of drugs and alcohol.
The sense of restlessness convinced him more to expose the truth even if it would put his life in danger.
A landmark inquiry later found evidence that Australian forces had unlawfully killed 39 Afghans during the war.
He returned to Australia after a year of hiding where he was charged with was charged for breaching the Defense Act, disclosing confidential information, and stealing Commonwealth property.
During sentencing in Canberra on Tuesday, the judge ruled that sharing military secrets was “a gross breach of trust” but McBride maintained his decision to leak the sensitive military documents was justified as it had ultimately exposed wrongdoing.
He will be eligible for release on parole after 27 months.
