MELBOURNE: Australian army whistleblower David McBride, who leaked allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan to the media, lost a court bid to have his prison sentence reduced on Wednesday.
The three Australian Capital Territory Court of Appeal judges unanimously rejected the 61-year-old former army lawyer’s appeal against the severity of a five years and eight months prison sentence imposed a year ago.
The judges also rejected McBride’s argument that as a military officer he had sworn an oath to Queen Elizabeth II and therefore had sworn duty to act in the “public interest.”
“To the contrary, the oath obligued the appellant (McBride) to discharge his duties ‘according to the law,’” the judges said in a written summary of their ruling.
McBride said through his lawyers that Australians would be outraged by the Court of Appeal decision.
“It is my own conscience and the people of Australia that I answer to. I have kept my oath to the Australian people,” McBride said in the lawyers’ statement.
McBride pleaded guilty last year to three charges, including theft and sharing with journalists documents classified as secret. He faced a potential life sentence.
Rights advocates complain that McBride remains the only person to be imprisoned over allegations of war crimes committed by elite Australian special forces troops in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
A military report released in 2020 recommended 19 current and former soldiers face criminal investigations over 39 unlawful killings in Afghanistan.
Former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Oliver Schulz was charged in March 2023 with murdering an unarmed Afghan in 2012. Schulz pleaded not guilty to the war crime and has yet to stand trial.
Former SAS Cpl. Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living veteran, lost an appeal two weeks ago against a civil court ruling that he unlawfully killed four unarmed Afghans.
Roberts-Smith said he would appeal his loss in the High Court. He has not been criminally charged.
McBride’s lawyers also said they would take their appeal to the Hight Court.
“We believe that only the High Court can properly grapple with the immense public interest and constitutional issues at the heart of this case,” the lawyers’ statement said.
“It cannot be a crime to expose a crime. It cannot be illegal to tell the truth,” the statement added.
Whistleblower’s lawyers call for a government pardon
The lawyers also called on Attorney General Michelle Rowland, who was appointed after the Labour Party government was re-elected on May 3, to recommend McBride be pardoned.
“It is now time for the attorney general to show leadership. To show Australians that this Labor government will no longer jail whistleblowers,” the lawyers said.
Rowland did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The documents became the source of a series of Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports in 2017 called the “Afghan Files.” The reports detailed allegations against Australian soldiers including the unlawful killing of men and children.
The appeal court judges noted in their summary that McBride began taking home copies of hundreds of secret documents after becoming “dissatisfied with what he perceived to be vexatious over-investigation of alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers.”
McBride declined to have further dealings with a journalist after the reporter revealed he intended to use the classified information for a story exposing war crime allegations, the judges said.
McBride can be considered for parole after he has served two years and three months, meaning he must remain behind bars until at least August next year.
Australia whistleblower who exposed war crime allegations loses bid to reduce prison sentence
https://arab.news/5k2uz
Australia whistleblower who exposed war crime allegations loses bid to reduce prison sentence
- The three Australian Capital Territory Court of Appeal judges unanimously rejected the 61-year-old former army lawyer’s appeal against the severity of a five years and eight months prison sentence
- The documents became the source of a series of Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports in 2017 called the “Afghan Files.”
Geoeconomic confrontation tops global risks in 2026: WEF report
- Also armed conflict, extreme climate, public polarization, AI
- None ‘a foregone conclusion,’ says WEF’s MD Saadia Zahidi
DUBAI: Geoeconomic confrontation has emerged as the top global risk this year, followed by state-based armed conflict, according to a new World Economic Forum report.
The Global Risks Report 2026, released on Wednesday, found that both risks climbed eight places year-on-year, underscoring a sharp deterioration in the global outlook amid increased international competition.
The top five risks are geoeconomic confrontation (18 percent of respondents), state-based armed conflict (14 percent), extreme weather events (8 percent), societal polarization (7 percent) and misinformation and disinformation (7 percent).
The WEF’s Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said the report “offers an early warning system as the age of competition compounds global risks — from geoeconomic confrontation to unchecked technology to rising debt — and changes our collective capacity to address them.
“But none of these risks are a foregone conclusion.”
The report assesses risks across three timeframes: immediate (2026); short-to-medium term (next two years); and long term (next 10 years).
Economic risks show the largest overall increase in the two-year outlook, with both economic downturn and inflation jumping eight positions.
Misinformation and disinformation rank fifth this year but rise to second place in the two-year outlook and fourth over the 10-year horizon.
The report suggests this reflects growing anxiety around the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, with adverse outcomes linked to AI surging from 30th place in the two-year timeframe to fifth in the 10-year outlook.
Uncertainty dominates the global risk outlook, according to the report.
Surveyed leaders and experts view both the short- and long-term outlook negatively, with 50 percent expecting a turbulent or stormy global environment over the next two years, rising to 57 percent over the next decade.
A further 40 percent and 32 percent, respectively, describe the outlook as unsettled across the two- and 10-year timeframes, while just 1 percent anticipate a calm global outlook in either period.
Environmental risks ease slightly in the short-term rankings. Extreme weather fell from second to fourth place and pollution from sixth to ninth. Meanwhile, critical changes to Earth systems and biodiversity loss dropped seven and five positions, respectively.
However, over the next decade, environmental threats re-emerge as the most severe, with extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and critical changes to Earth systems topping the global risk rankings.
Looking ahead over the next decade, around 75 percent of respondents anticipate a turbulent or stormy environmental outlook, making it the most pessimistic assessment across all risk categories.
Zahidi said that “the challenges highlighted in the report underscore both the scale of the potential perils we face and our shared responsibility to shape what comes next.”
Despite the gloomy outlook, Zahidi signaled a positive shift in global cooperation.
“It is also clear that new forms of global cooperation are already unfolding even amid competition, and the global economy is demonstrating resilience in the face of uncertainty.”
Now in its 21st year, the Global Risks Report highlights a core message: global risks cannot be managed without cooperation.
As competition intensifies, rebuilding trust and new forms of collaboration will be critical, with the report stressing that today’s decisions will shape future outcomes.
The report was released ahead of WEF’s annual meeting, which will be held in Davos from Jan. 19 to 23.
