Five ABC journalists called in commando defamation case
The public broadcaster’s journalists will be called to give evidence in a landmark defamation case between the ABC and former special forces soldier Heston Russell.
Five ABC journalists will be called to give evidence in a landmark defamation case between the public broadcaster and former commando Heston Russell.
Senior journalists Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson, who wrote the stories which Mr Russell claims implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner, will be called.
ABC head of investigations and current Affairs Jo Puccini, ABC investigations senior reporter Dan Oakes and ABC investigations journalist Alexandra Blucher are also expected to give evidence when the matter goes to trial in late July, the federal court heard on Tuesday morning.
Mr Russell has alleged the ABC articles, published in October 2020 and November 2021, through the use of links and his photograph, implied he was complicit in the execution of an Afghan prisoner who was captured during a joint drug enforcement operation between Australia and the US.
The articles contained allegations from a US soldier that he witnessed Australian forces shoot the prisoner in a “deliberate decision to break the rules of war” because there were too many of them to fit into the aircraft.
The court on Tuesday also decided the trial would begin on July 28 and last for about five days.
The ABC earlier this month dropped its truth defence and will instead rely on a public interest defence. This will be the first time the new public interest defence will be tested in court since it was introduced in 2020.
The court on Tuesday heard the ABC had been dragging their feet, with Mr Russell’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC lambasting the broadcaster for “taking their time” on delivering the affidavits, which they have had nine months to compile.
Mr Russell was present in court, wearing a suit and seated at the back of the room. He muttered inaudibly when the ABC’s barrister took the bar.
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