Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has ordered the Commonwealth to withdraw the prosecution of lawyer Bernard Collaery, four years after he was accused of leaking classified information about Australia’s alleged espionage operation in East Timor.
Collaery, a former ACT Attorney General, was facing the prospect of imprisonment and the date of his trial had finally been set for October 24 in the ACT Supreme Court after years of delays. .
Bernard Collaery chose to fight the charges after Witness K received a three-month suspended sentence. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Collaery was charged under the National Security Information Act with five charges of leaking classified information for allegedly helping his client, an ex-spy known only as Witness K, to disclose information about the operation of Australia’s East Timorese government mistakes during trade negotiations in 2004 to cut. increase oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.
Dreyfus announced Thursday at a news conference in Sydney that the Commonwealth would suspend its case against him.
“Given our national security, our national interest and the proper administration of justice, today I decided that this prosecution should end,” he said.
Calling the Collaery case “exceptional,” Dreyfus said his decision was based on the government’s commitment to its “relationship with our neighbors.”
“All processing involves a balance of interests. The balance of interests may change over time. That’s a case like that, ”Dreyfus said.
He said the decision did not represent a departure from the long-standing practice of protecting government secrets.
“Governments must protect secrets, and this government stands firm in our commitment to keeping Australians safe by keeping secrets out of the wrong hands. The government’s long-standing practice has been to neither confirm nor deny claims about intelligence issues and I will strictly adhere to this practice, ”he said.