Face of Nation : A former spy who blew the whistle on an East Timor bugging scandal is waiting to learn what harm he is supposed to have caused before finalising his guilty plea in court. The former intelligence officer, known only as Witness K, had been poised to plead guilty to conspiring to share secret information with the East Timorese government in relation to the 2004 diplomatic scandal.
Witness K was a key witness for East Timor in a case against Australia over allegations Dili’s cabinet rooms were bugged during negotiations over a gas and oil treaty. Ernst Wilheim also applied to be given leave to join the case as a friend of the court to make a submission about open justice.
His application was also adjourned until the next court date in November. Witness K’s case has been split from his former lawyer Bernard Collaery, who is fighting charges over his role in the affair.
The Human Rights Law Centre on Monday called for charges against the pair to be dropped, arguing Witness K should be protected, not prosecuted, by the government. East Timor dropped the spying case against Australia in 2017 as an act of goodwill before signing a new resources treaty.
