Keep Diggers’ killer behind bars

Injustice will be the winner if Kabul authorities, at the behest of the Trump administration, release the former Afghan soldier who killed three Diggers deployed to defend the country against terrorism. The turncoat, known as Hekmatullah, is among 400 prisoners whose freedom the Taliban has demanded as a precondition for doing the peace deal Donald Trump wants in place before November’s US election. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has conceded releasing the prisoners “is unpopular”. He claims doing so will lead to an agreement that will end the war. Scott Morrison has urged Mr Trump to keep Hekmatullah behind bars. As the Prime Minister says, he should never be released.

Even if Mr Pompeo’s confidence turns out to be well-founded, and there is no certainty, it would be an egregious error to compel Kabul to release Hekmatullah. Worse than even the Taliban, he was a treacherous so-called “green-on-blue” killer who feigned loyalty and pretended to be an Afghan soldier, then turned on our Diggers serving in a tough and inhospitable theatre of war. Those he murdered in a cold-blooded act at a forward operating base north of Australia’s main base at Tarin Kowt on August 29, 2012 were Private Robert Poate, 23; Lance Corporal Stjepan “Rick” Milosevic, 40; and Sapper James Martin, 21. The Australians were playing cards at the time. Hekmatullah also wounded two other Australians. The attack led to a six-month manhunt involving elite Australian special forces and cutting-edge technology before Hekmatullah was seized in the Pakistani city of Quetta, home of Taliban leaders.

He avoided execution despite being handed a death sentence by the Afghan Supreme Court in 2013. Since then, he has been in a Kabul prison. As Ben Packham reported on Monday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have been “frantically lobbying” Afghan officials to keep him there and to not allow themselves to be cajoled into releasing him. He could be released in the next few days. It would be unfortunate if Mr Pompeo and the authorities in Kabul failed to understand the revulsion Australians felt about that prospect.

The families of the three men spoke of a “crushing blow” after being given news of Hekmatullah’s likely release: “There can never be complete closure for us now.” Australians identify with those deeply felt sentiments. During the past 17 years our servicemen and women have sacrificed much to help Afghanistan. Their efforts deserve better than to see a villain such as Hekmatullah walk free for the sake of a precipitous, uncertain peace deal that at worst could help the Taliban in re-establishing its rule in Kabul. Other members of the NATO-led coalition that fought in Afghanistan also are seeking to exempt killers of their soldiers from the prisoner release. The US needs to heed the outrage of those appalled by the thought of a murderer such as Hekmatullah going free.