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4 Mar, 2014

Int’l Court of Justice orders Australia to cease spying on East Timor – Sydney Morning Herald

Australia has been ordered to cease spying on East Timor and its legal advisers, in a landmark decision by the International Court of Justice relating to a bitter dispute between the two countries over $40 billion of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. The court also ruled that the Australian government must seal documents and data seized in an ASIO raid in December.

The decision, is a major setback for Attorney General George Brandis who authorised the raid on East Timor’s Australia lawyer Bernard Collaery, where about a dozen agents swooped on his office and took reams of material, including legal documents, electronic files and a statement by a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent alleging an eavesdropping operation on the tiny half island nation by Australia.

via Australia ordered to cease spying on East Timor by International Court of Justice – Sydney Morning Herald.