ABC headquarters in Sydney raided by Australian Federal Police
Federal police are raiding the Sydney offices of the national broadcaster in relation to 2017 ABC news reports that Australian defence personnel may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
The ABC on Wednesday said the warrants indicated AFP officers would search documents and computers linked to reporters Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, as well as news director Gaven Morris.
The ABC said the raids in Ultimo were in relation to a July 2017 story that said "hundreds of pages of secret Defence Force documents leaked to the ABC give an unprecedented insight into the clandestine operations of the elite forces in Afghanistan including incidents of troops killing unarmed men and children".
The material the AFP are seeking in relation to the story by the national broadcaster has since been dubbed ‘The Afghan Files’.
RELATED LINK - What are ‘The Afghan Files’?
Executive Editor at ABC News and Head of Investigative Journalism John Lyons said on Twitter that three officers arrived at the headquarters and declared they would be leaving with “material”.
When revealing concerns over their “widespread access to emails and correspondence” , Mr Lyons said he was informed the raid was in relation to “very specific matters”.
AFP RAID LIVE: head of the AFP team tells us: “We will be taking material with us. It will be sealed.”
— John Lyons (@TheLyonsDen) June 5, 2019
Mr Lyons said the AFP officers told him the raids weren’t related to a raid on News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst on Monday over a story she wrote last year detailing an alleged government proposal to spy on Australians.
The AFP confirmed officially that: "This activity is not linked to a search warrant executed in Canberra yesterday."
The federal police said the warrant was duly authorised and no arrests were planned.
ABC Managing Director David Anderson branded the raids as “unusual” in an official statement.
“It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be raided in this way,” he said.
“This is a serious development and raises legitimate concerns over freedom of the press and proper public scrutiny of national security and defence matters.
“The ABC stands by its journalists, will protect its sources and continue to report without fear or favour on national security and intelligence issues when there is a clear public interest.”
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