![]() He said Mr Russell's evidence of the hurt caused was not persuasive. Justice Lee said he was "no shrinking violet in drawing attention to himself and the publications". The court found Mr Russell had himself directed traffic to the publications after he "self-identified" and sought about "taking control of the public narrative". He said they considered it "emblematic of a broader culture war attack on all the other war crimes reporting of ABC investigations". Justice Lee believed Willacy and his editor, Jo Puccini, had become "defensive" about any criticism of their initial article after Mr Russell started to engage publicly about it. The judge said the 2021 article "overstated the cogency of the evidence in the ABC's possession" and was published following several "missteps", including the failure to seek a response from the veteran.īut he was not satisfied the publication was motivated by any improper intention. "Taking his conduct as a whole, his belief was not reasonable in the circumstances," Justice Lee said during a summary of his 119-page decision. However, he also considered the journalists' reading of the FOI response, Josh's allegations and the seriousness of them, Willacy's drafting choices, and the lack of urgency other than a means to "vindicate his earlier reporting". Justice Lee said he had no doubt Willacy believed publishing the matter was in the public interest. The court previously heard the 2021 article was published following an unsuccessful Freedom of Information (FOI) request, interpreted as having "confirmed" there was an investigation. Justice Lee said he generally accepted the evidence of journalist Mark Willacy, who testified about his dealings with the source and what other information he possessed at various times. Today, the judge rejected the ABC's public interest defence. Justice Michael Lee had already ruled 10 defamatory imputations were conveyed by the stories. Mr Russell commanded the November Platoon at that time and sued based on 2021 publications being read with earlier reporting about the allegations from Josh, who said he heard a "pop" over a radio but was not an eyewitness. Josh made accusations against unidentified soldiers that an unarmed Afghan prisoner was executed in 2012 because there wasn't enough room in a helicopter. The retired special forces major sued the ABC and two of its investigative journalists in the Federal Court over stories that reported allegations from an ex-US marine nicknamed "Josh". Former commando Heston Russell has been awarded $390,000 in damages in his defamation case against the ABC, after a judge rejected the broadcaster's public interest defence.
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