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Whistleblower must be allowed to give evidence in legal dispute over Australia's dodgy dealings regarding Timor's oil and gas
Timor Sea Justice Campaign Media Release - September 3, 2014
The Timor Sea Justice Campaign's Melbourne spokesperson, Tom Clarke, said any arrests are likely to impact on a legal challenge East Timor has brought against Australia in The Hague.
"There are contradictory reports about who referred the matter to the federal police, but either way, seeking to arrest a key witness a month out from a major legal case that is likely to cause the Australian Government serious embarrassment is not a good look," said Mr Clarke.
The legal challenge in The Hague is an attempt to have an inequitable oil and gas treaty nullified due to allegations that Australia bugged East Timor's cabinet room during negotiations.
"As if sort-changing the second poorest nation in Asia out of billions of dollars of revenue through dodgy oil and gas treaties wasn't bad enough, Australia now appears to be scrambling to prevent any scrutiny of its dubious tactics," said Mr Clarke.
The office of the Australian lawyer representing East Timor, Bernard Collaery, was raided by ASIO last year and the former Australian spy, known in the case only as 'Witness K', had his passport seized.
"The witness has made extremely serious allegations and they deserve to be heard and assessed in appropriate legal proceedings. The Australian Government shouldn't be doing anything to prevent that from happening," said Mr Clarke.
Whilst the raids last year my have been justified by legitimate concerns that the identity of serving intelligence officers might have been revealed in evidence to be submitted as part of the legal challenge, Mr Clarke said such excuses could hardly be relied upon some nine months later.
"My guess is that the Government is keen to send a clear and somewhat threatening message to any other would-be-whistleblowers to keep Australia's dirty little secrets well under wraps," said Mr Clarke.
In March this year, the International Court of Justice delivered interim orders following complaints about the ASIO raids. It issued a legally binding order for Australia to stop interfering in anyway with communications between East Timor and its legal team. It also reminded Australia not to use national security as an alibi for commercial espionage.
Mr Clarke said the Australian Government could easily extract itself from the dispute over the contested oil and gas fields by simply negotiating permanent maritime boundaries with East Timor.
"Here we are having just marked the 15th anniversary of East Timor's historic vote for independence, yet when the Timorese look at a map of their nation there are no lines to indicate its maritime boundaries. It's time for our PM to sit down with his Timorese counter part and simply draw a line half way between the two coastlines as international law prescribes," said Mr Clarke.
Timor Sea Justice Campaign
The TSJC is comprised of concerned Australians of various ages, backgrounds and political persuasions who all want our Government to give East Timor a fair go. Specifically, we're calling for the establishment of permanent maritime boundaries in accordance with current international law.
For further information and comments: Tom Clarke on tom@dukestmedia.com or 0422 545 763
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