ASIS Officer charged with exposing East Timor Spy Operations
Last week, Andrew Wilkie revealed in parliament that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had charged lawyer Bernard Collaery and his client, a former ASIS spy known to the public as ‘Witness K’, with breaching the Intelligence Services Act. The two are accused of exposing the now infamous East Timor bugging scandal, where the Australian government bugged the cabinet office of Prime Minister Alkartiri.
The charges come half a decade after the homes and offices of the two men were raided by ASIO, and the passport of Witness K seized.
The treatment of these two men raises questions about the protection of free speech in this country, and whether the government is actively preventing media outlets from reporting on the matter.
To discuss the issue, The Daily‘s Sam Baran was joined by Clinton Fernandes, Professor of International and Political Studies at the University of New South Wales.
You can find Professor Fernandes’ writing on the topic at The Conversation.
