Category Archives: Witness K case

Labor shelves election promise for inquiry into prosecution of Witness K and Bernard Collaery

Posted on by

Plans for investigation into Timor bugging scandal have failed to transpire more than 18 months after government was elected

Labor has quietly shelved its pre-election promise to hold an inquiry into the controversial 2004 Timor-Leste bugging scandal and the former Coalition government’s pursuit of ex-spy Witness K and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery.

It comes as newly released documents reveal the lengths the Albanese and former Morrison governments went to keep “national security” information in the case from being released to the public. That material was ultimately deemed low risk by the ACT court of appeal.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Not in the spirit of our friendship’: Penny Wong concedes past Australian wrongs in Timor-Leste

Posted on by

Foreign minister says previous governments have treated the country in ‘disappointing’ ways during visit to Dili

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has attempted to improve Australia’s ties with Timor-Leste by conceding that “disappointing” actions by past governments were “not in the spirit of our friendship”.

Wong did not mention the scandal surrounding Australia’s bugging of the nation’s cabinet room in 2004, but acknowledged Timor-Leste’s sovereign right to make its own choices “without having them encroached by others”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bernard Collaery trial highlights ‘prohibitive’ and ‘onerous’ government secrecy restrictions, lawyers claim

Posted on by

Exclusive: Whistleblower’s legal team detailed the ‘profound’ cost of the commonwealth’s rules in inquiry into the effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004

The secrecy restrictions around Bernard Collaery’s prosecution were so severe that he was forced to obtain government approval for his lawyer to view evidence against him, communicate with his legal team in-person in secure rooms chosen by the commonwealth, physically transport documents around the country at exorbitant cost and compose drafts on commonwealth laptop computers at pre-approved locations.

The national security law watchdog is currently investigating the operation and effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004, which the federal government uses to protect sensitive information during court proceedings.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor flags law reforms to stop cases involving national security being cloaked in secrecy

Posted on by

Bernard Collaery welcomes proposed changes as attorney general recognises importance of open justice and public interest

The federal government has flagged amendments to national security laws to ensure that the near total secrecy that hid the prosecution and imprisonment of a former Australian intelligence officer cannot happen again.

The former government faced persistent criticism of its use of the National Security Information (NSI) Act to enforce extreme secrecy in cases of clear public interest, including the prosecutions of Bernard Collaery, Witness K and the former military lawyer David McBride.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bernard Collaery case: Australian government’s legal bill spirals despite dropped prosecution

Posted on by

Legal bill grows by $248,000 in three months amid ongoing pursuit of secrecy

The Australian government is amassing an ever-increasing legal bill in its ongoing pursuit of secrecy in the Bernard Collaery case, spending a further $250,000 since dropping the prosecution in July.

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, intervened to end the Collaery prosecution in July, a decision widely welcomed by lawyers, human rights advocates and Collaery’s supporters.

Continue reading...

Bernard Collaery likens his prosecution by Australia to a ‘Moscow show trial’

Posted on by

Witness K’s lawyer gives first speech since case against him was dropped, argues for reform of the National Security Information Act

Bernard Collaery has likened his prosecution to a “Moscow show trial” and said the Coalition pursued him and former spy Witness K in an attempt to hide the “dirty linen” of its dealings in Timor-Leste.

In his first speech since the case against him was dropped, Collaery on Wednesday night gave an excoriating assessment of the protracted, secretive prosecution that he said caused immense turmoil for him, his family and friends, and his legal team.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Albanese government continues push to keep parts of Bernard Collaery case secret

Posted on by

Human Rights Law Centre says new attorney general should abandon the appeal and let judgment ‘finally see the light’

Lawyers for the Albanese government will maintain a push by the former attorney general to impose secrecy over parts of a key decision in the Bernard Collaery case.

Earlier this month, the attorney general Mark Dreyfus made the momentous decision to end the prosecution of Collaery for the lawyer’s role in exposing Australia’s 2004 bugging of Timor-Leste’s government, along with his client, a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer known only as Witness K.

Continue reading...

José Ramos-Horta pleased ‘fairness prevailed’ in Bernard Collaery case

Posted on by

Exclusive: Timor-Leste president welcomes decision to end prosecution of ‘good man’ who helped expose Australian bugging operation

Timor-Leste’s president, José Ramos-Horta, has welcomed the “wisdom and fairness” of the decision to end the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, saying the lawyer is a “good man” who represented the best of Australian ideals.

Collaery and his client, intelligence officer Witness K, are viewed as heroes in Timor-Leste for their role in exposing Australia’s 2004 operation to bug the nation’s government offices to gain the upper hand in oil and gas negotiations.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Coalition government spent $6m prosecuting Bernard Collaery and three other whistleblowers

Posted on by

Exclusive: Figures provided to the Guardian reveal exorbitant legal bill for pursuing cases against Collaery, Witness K, Richard Boyle and David McBride

The former Coalition government spent almost $6m prosecuting Bernard Collaery, Witness K, Richard Boyle and David McBride over their actions in exposing wrongdoing and misconduct, new data shows.

Figures provided to the Guardian show the costs of the prosecutions has almost doubled in two years, leaving taxpayers with an exorbitant legal bill well before the cases have reached trial.

Continue reading...

José Ramos-Horta accuses Alexander Downer of ‘distorting’ issues around 2004 Timor-Leste bugging

Posted on by

Exclusive: President of south-east Asian nation says Australia used cover of ‘supposedly altruistic foreign aid program’ to spy on behalf of oil companies

The president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, has accused former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer of “avoiding and distorting” the issues around the 2004 bugging scandal, saying recent comments ignored the fact that Australia had spied “on behalf of oil companies and using the cover of Australia’s supposedly altruistic foreign aid program”.

On Thursday, Downer appeared on the ABC’s Q&A program and was questioned about the 2004 Australian Secret Intelligence Service mission to bug Timor-Leste’s government during sensitive talks to carve up oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Continue reading...

Bernard Collaery trial: Coalition tells high court release of judgment would risk national security

Posted on by

Collaery won ACT court of appeal case lifting previous secrecy orders and declaring importance of open justice

The full publication of a key judgment in the trial of Bernard Collaery would prejudice Australia’s national security and must not be allowed, the federal government has told the high court.

Prior to October, significant parts of Collaery’s trial were to be shrouded in secrecy after some of Australia’s most senior intelligence and foreign affairs officials convinced a court of the risk an open hearing posed to national security.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Witness K is in the dock but institutions vital to Australia’s democracy are on trial | Ian Cunliffe

Posted on by

Some people seem to be above the law. Those people do not include the whistleblower and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery

Timor-Leste only achieved independence in 2002. It was Asia’s poorest country and desperately needed revenue. Revenue from massive gas resources in the Timor Sea was its big hope. But it needed to negotiate a treaty with Australia on their carve-up. Australia ruthlessly exploited that fact: delays from the Australian side in negotiating a treaty for the carve-up of those resources, and repeated threats of more delays, were a constant theme of the negotiations. In November 2002 the former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told Timor-Leste’s prime minister, Mari Alkatiri: “We don’t have to exploit the resources. They can stay there for 20, 40, 50 years.” In late 2003 Timor-Leste requested monthly discussions. Australia claimed it could only afford two rounds a year. Poor Timor-Leste offered to fund rich Australia’s expenses. Australia didn’t accept.

Related: Witness K and the 'outrageous' spy scandal that failed to shame Australia

Continue reading...

Witness K and the Australian spying operation that continues to betray Timor-Leste

Posted on by

Charges against Bernard Collaery and his retired Asis agent client confirm the government has few regrets about an exploitative exercise against a friendly neighbour

In the first week of January 2019, a private jet landed at Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. The former Victorian premier Steve Bracks emerged into the monsoonal heat and was greeted by staff from the office of Xanana Gusmão, Timor-Leste’s chief maritime boundary negotiator. They drove Bracks to the waterfront café at the Novo Turismo Resort and Spa, where Gusmão was waiting.

The subject of the meeting was Bernard Collaery, Gusmão’s former lawyer, who was pleading not guilty to breaches of Australia’s intelligence act. Collaery’s charges related to an Australian Secret Intelligence Service operation in Dili in 2004, in which Canberra is believed to have recorded Timor-Leste officials’ private discussions about maritime boundary negotiations with Australia. In 2013, the Australian government revealed the allegations of spying.

Continue reading...