Kathryn Kelly, co-convenor of the Alliance Against Political Prosecutions, welcomed the news on July 6 that the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has dropped the prosecution of Bernard Collaery.
Collaery and Witness K were charged in 2018 for their role in making public the 2004 bugging of the East Timorese government offices by the Australian government.
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“Dreyfus has delivered on the hope he gave people before the election”, she said adding “we thank him for helping to restore public trust in Australia’s legal system”.
Kelly said “there is still work to be done”, namely to redress the injustice of the prosecutions of Major David McBride for giving information to the ABC about the alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle, who also gave information to the ABC about the harsh ATO debt recovery practices, is also being prosecuted.
“These are also unjust prosecutions [and] not in the public interest. These prosecutions should also be dropped.”
Kelly said Julian Assange’s case is also urgent. “Can Australia seek standing on behalf of this Australian citizen in his appeal case and argue against his extradition? What is the Attorney-General doing about his case?”