David McBride has pleaded guilty to leaking allegations of war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
TIMELINE:
* 2009 - McBride starts full-time position as Australian Defence Force legal officer
* 2011 to 2012 - Deployed to Afghanistan for his first tour
* 2013 - Deployed with special forces soldiers in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province
* 2014 to 2016 - Provides journalists with classified information detailing allegations of war crimes by Australian troops
* 2015 - Put on sick leave for post traumatic stress disorder
* 2017 - medically discharged
* 2017 (July) - ABC publishes The Afghan Files detailing war crimes allegations
* 2018 - McBride charged with stealing classified information and disclosing it to journalists
* 2019 - Pleads not guilty
* 2019 (June) - Australian Federal Police raid ABC offices in Sydney, confiscating material relating to Afghan stories
* 2020 - Independent report details credible information of 23 incidents of potential war crimes by Australian troops, including the killing of 39 Afghans and cruel treatment of two others
* 2022 - McBride drops application for protection under Whistleblower Act after Commonwealth fights to keep expert testimony secret
* 2023 - McBride loses arguments relating to public interest and classified evidence and pleads guilty to three charges
Australian Associated Press
