Former Australian Defence Force (ADF) employee David McBride has been released on parole after 27 months in prison.
In November 2023, McBride pleaded guilty to unlawfully sharing classified defence force material with the ABC, including allegations that Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
In a statement shared after his release, McBride thanked his supporters, who he said “showed me there are so many good people in the world worth fighting for.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
McBride joined the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2009 as a Special Operations legal officer.
He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013.
While there, McBride became concerned that the ADF was improperly investigating soldiers who hadn’t done anything wrong.
He first tried to raise the alarm internally with the ADF.
Next, he went to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
After that, he went to the Defence Minister.
When McBride’s attempts failed, he went to the ABC.
McBride believed the materials he provided to the ABC demonstrated improper investigations of ADF soldiers.
However, the documents also contained evidence suggesting that Australian soldiers had allegedly committed war crimes.
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The ABC included these allegations in their reporting.
Prison sentence
In 2018, McBride was charged with offences relating to national security.
He did not dispute that he leaked the material, but argued it was his duty to report alleged illegal conduct because it was in the public interest.
McBride sought to fight the charges, but early in the trial, the court ruled that certain evidence may pose a risk to “the security and defence of Australia”.
He pleaded guilty to three charges, including theft and sharing classified documents with the press, and was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in May 2024.
Release
On Thursday, McBride was released from prison on parole.
This means he can live in the community for the rest of his sentence, provided he meets conditions such as reporting to a community corrections officer and not leaving the country without permission.
In a social media post celebrating McBride’s release, The Information Rights Project shared that 6,500 people had signed a petition calling for his release, and 2,700 had emailed Attorney-General Michelle Rowland asking for McBride to be freed.
In a statement published by McBride’s legal team, he thanked his family, supporters, prison staff and inmates, and the Attorney-General.
“I’d like to thank all my amazing supporters from around both Australia and the world who sent me such inspirational messages.”
McBride finished by saying that he is “looking forward to hugging my dog, Jake. Hopefully he will remember me.”
