The ABC has been accused of publishing serious allegations that a platoon of Australian commandos executed a hogtied Afghan prisoner knowing the claims were false.
The national broadcaster put out two articles in October 2020 and November 2021 claiming the November Platoon had shot and killed an unarmed prisoner during a drug raid in Afghanistan in mid-2012 because there was no room for them on a helicopter.
The leader of that platoon Heston Russell is now suing the ABC for defamation, saying he and his subordinates were not deployed in Afghanistan at the time of the alleged killing.
He says the ABC’s sole source, a US marine known as “Josh”, was in the air as a door gunner during the night-time raid, could not see any of the Australians on the ground at the time, and only heard a “pop” over the radio.
“Frankly when a serious allegation is made to a journalist by a source, it should be critically assessed, it should be checked, it should be tested and corroborated before it’s published,” said Russell’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC as the federal court trial kicked off on Friday.
“That is what the notion of investigation must entail. Shoddy, uncorroborated, reckless reporting is not in anyone’s interests.”
The ABC has been accused of a “malignant approach” and an “inexcusable abuse of power” against Russell after he filed an editorial complaint about the October 2020 article.
In emails to ABC journalist Mark Willacy, Josh admitted his memory regarding the alleged helicopter incident during a time of constant combat missions and very little sleep was “pretty hazy” and “fuzzy”.
“I would be useless anyways when it comes to giving specific enough details to go on,” Josh wrote.
The marine said the Australian soldiers he worked with at the time had long wild hair, had gauged ear piercings and mostly wore baseball-style hats and tennis shoes.
These details were not included in Willacy’s article and the journalist did not try to locate a group of soldiers who fit that description, Chrysantou said.
Other allegations that the Americans did not want to work with November Platoon because of its conduct were also uncorroborated by the confidential sources that Willacy spoke with, Justice Michael Lee heard.
“Mr Willacy was happy to malign my client in the worst of ways and to malign the platoon without checking any of these things,” Chysanthou said.
A November 2021 article claiming the Department of Defence confirmed November Platoon was under criminal investigation was also false and based on an “absurd” interpretation of an FOI response, the barrister added.
As other news agencies slammed the ABC’s reporting, Media Watch also put out a piece critical of the publications.
The ABC eventually did publish amendments and placed a “clarification” at the bottom of both articles.
A separate article from December 2021, reporting that Russell had sold naked photographs through OnlyFans to fundraise for a veterans charity, is also being raised as the former major seeks aggravated damages against the ABC.
The hearing continues.
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