Australian commando at centre of ABC’s fake war crimes footage reveals his scapegoat fears
The Australian commando at the centre of the ABC’s fake war crimes footage scandal has broken his silence and is demanding the public broadcaster’s top brass pay for falsely vilifying his platoon amid fears an inexperienced editor could be used as a scapegoat.
The signaller, who The Nightly has chosen not to name for ongoing security reasons, was the gunman who fired a single warning shot from a Blackhawk helicopter while on patrol in Helmand province in Afghanistan in 2012.
He said he was shocked to discover vision of the encounter with the Taliban was manipulated to make it appear as though he was firing indiscriminately.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I want those who abused their power to pay the price,” he said.
“I can’t help thinking that maybe there was a poor sound editor who had someone barking over their shoulder, without realising the repercussions this would have on people’s lives.”
The ABC removed the vision after independent forensic digital audio expert James Raper told Seven’s Spotlight program the sound of at least five extra gunshots had been added to the clip to make it look more sinister.
The taxpayer-funded broadcaster has since launched an independent inquiry into what they described as “an editing error” following revelations the footage had remained on the ABC’s website for two years after it was warned the footage’s audio had been doctored.
Despite announcing the investigation, the ABC’s editorial bosses – managing director David Anderson and news chief Justin Stevens – have already publicly refuted any suggestion the broadcaster’s elite investigative journalists, Mark Willacy, Josh Robertson or Alex McDonald were in any way responsible.
The signaller said the vision and how it was treated shocked him, especially the way the ABC had highlighted those on the ground with illuminated circles.
“The one that really got me was the individual circled that was in the frame closest to the helicopter. I wasn’t aiming at him at all,” he said. “I knew he was there but there was all this consideration for everyone else there because there were some people just trying to go on with their lives in that compound and he wasn’t the target at all. The circling of that individual really hurt me.”
As disturbing as the doctored vision was, the signaller said he was even more concerned by the commentary that accompanied the stories from lead reporter Mark Willacy.
“I have a very clear memory of that day”, he said. “It was an especially busy fighting day and I’m very grateful no one else lost their lives that day. But the commentary that Mark Willacy added to it (the vision) made it sound like it was a bit of a turkey shoot, as if we we’re shooting pigs from a helicopter and it just wasn’t right. I don’t want to refer to human beings that way. It was all very unprofessional”.
The Commando says every person in his platoon was affected by the broadcasts in some way and the repercussions were felt heavily by their loved ones. His wife was outraged by the way her husband was portrayed.
“Even my wife said to me; ‘why is the ABC, the national broadcaster doing this to you?’
“It’s very hard for her and all the other families to understand why. And it’s hard for us still to understand why we were named and shamed on national television. I left my 9-month-old daughter at home to go on that tour to Afghanistan and I was very proud of what we did but it all got taken away so quickly”.
The man charged with leading the inquiry into the fake footage, Alan Sunderland, has dismissed concerns about his suitability. He will investigate how the manipulated audio came to be included in both the 7.30 report and online news reports.
Concerns were raised over Mr Sunderland’s appointment given he has worked at the ABC for 23 years, including as an editorial director at the public broadcaster and is still seen as an “insider”.
“I have a track record, demonstrably of not being afraid to do my job which was to point out areas where the ABC has fallen short,” he told The Australian.
The signaller said he hoped Mr Sunderland did justice for not only him, but the platoon who were all affected by the false allegations.
“We were a group of 30 and those stories were enough for me and the others to go through some issues. A lot of us, including our families have suffered as a result.”
