Australian spy charged with bugging leak denied legal aid

CANBERRA, Australia – A defence lawyer says a former Australian spy charged with conspiring to reveal classified information about an allegation that Australia bugged East Timor’s government during negotiations over the sharing of billions of dollars in oil and gas has been denied legal aid and might not be able to adequately fund his case.

The charge against the spy was discussed in a Canberra court on the eve of the prime minister flying to East Timor on Friday to begin a new revenue-sharing agreement.

The spy’s allegations that Australia bugged East Timorese Cabinet rooms in Dili in 2004 during treaty negotiations led to a 2006 treaty being scrapped.

The spy’s lawyer Haydn Carmichael told a magistrate on Thursday he and other lawyers were representing their client for free.