The editor of ABC Investigations has refuted claims a reporter “did not want to find the truth”, got away with a “terrible failing” and engaged in a “shocking breach” of ethics when he reported on allegations of war crimes he “failed to corroborate”, a court has been told.
Heston Russell is suing the ABC and two investigative journalists for defamation over stories published in 2020 and 2021 he claims made it look like he was being investigated for shooting an unarmed prisoner.
The stories Mr Russell claims defamed him, written and produced by journalists Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson, aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 and more than a year later on November 19, 2021.
The court was told the allegations arose from a US Marine named “Josh”, who contacted Mr Willacy about his time in Afghanistan working with Australian soldiers and said he was not a witness but heard a “pop” on the radio he believed was a gunshot.
The ABC is seeking to rely on a new public interest defence that was introduced in July 2021 in NSW and is being tested for the first time in this case.
The editor of ABC Investigations, Jo Puccini, took to the witness stand for the final day of evidence in the former soldier’s defamation trial where she repeatedly denied claims the journalists should have done more to confirm the allegation.
Under cross-examination by Mr Russell’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, she told the court she trusted Mr Willacy’s journalism as he has “30 years experience” and is “meticulous”.
Ms Chrysanthou accused Ms Puccini and the Investigations team of failing to corroborate Josh’s claims by attempting to speak to other people.
“I want to suggest to you Ms Puccini that it was a terrible failing on the part of ABC Investigations to not speak or attempt to speak to these two people before this article was published,” she said.
Ms Puccini did not agree.
The barrister continued to press: “Right, so are you saying it was sufficient to just ask Josh as opposed to finding out how many people were in the unit, who was in the unit and where they might be … Mr Willacy made none of those inquiries.”
“Are you saying, as you sit here, that you are satisfied with the fact that he just asked Josh, and Josh basically said thanks but no thanks,” Ms Chrysanthou said.
Ms Puccini said she was satisfied.
“That’s not an investigation … that is a reporter that does not want to find the truth,” Ms Chrysanthou said.
The ABC Investigations denied all accusations Mr Willacy did not “want to find anyone” who contradicted the allegations.
Ms Chrysanthou continued to press Mr Willacy as a “person who is wilfully blind” and made a “conscious decision” to not make inquiries.
She suggested Ms Puccini, as editor of the team, knew the articles “breached the ABC editorial standards” and was aware the standards were breached.
“Well, where there was a breach, the ABC corrected it,” Ms Puccini said.
Ms Chrysanthou asked if there was any reason why there was no public apology to November Platoon and Heston Russell for the accuracy breach.
She accused Ms Puccini of the “rationalisation” of her team as “dishonest, unethical and absurd”.
Ms Puccini denied the claims and told the court she didn’t think an apology needed to be made as she claimed the team “didn’t accuse Heston Russell of anything”.
“Why not? It’s not saying sorry, why?” Ms Chrysanthou said.
The editor said: “I thought that the steps that we took were appropriate.”
Mr Russell, who was commander of November platoon at the time of the allegations, last week fought back tears as he told the court he was “absolutely shocked” when he saw the November 2021 story saying his platoon was being investigated.
Earlier this year, Justice Lee found 10 defamatory imputations put forward by the national broadcaster were carried following a preliminary hearing in November 2022.
Justice Lee found the most serious meanings were that Mr Russell was involved in the killing, “habitually left ‘fire and bodies’ in his wake” and “knowingly crossed the line of ethical conduct” while serving in Afghanistan.
While the stories contained a denial from Mr Russell, he claimed the use of his name and photo implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner.
Mr Russell is asking for the ABC to remove the article, pay aggravated damages and stop repeating the allegations.
The hearing before Justice Michael Lee continues.