The ABC is seeking to defend the articles and television reports at an estimated five-day trial at the end of the month. Mr Russell claims the ABC implied he killed an Afghan prisoner. Justice Lee said representatives for Mr Russell were “entitled” to know the man’s identity as he played “such a central role” in the allegations. The high-profile silk said Mr Willacy’s evidence was “pretty incomprehensible”, while many other names in the evidence had been redacted for no reason. She argued the ABC did not want her client knowing Josh’s identity because of an “unfounded” assertion Mr Russell could be a risk to him. Ms Chrysanthou told the court she wanted to be told the source’s name not for “curiosity” but so she could speak to other witnesses in the US. “Not only did they publish a photo, they published an interview with him, his platoon, his rank, when he was in Afghanistan, the city and state he lives … They haven’t gone to a lot of trouble to hide Josh’s identity.” “We have been given a piece of paper that says ‘Heston comma’ and the rest is redacted, we don’t accept it,” she told the court. Mr Russell will head to trial against the ABC in just a few weeks. “Both articles record he does not want to be identified because he ‘fears retribution’,” the judgment, handed down in February, said. In his judgment earlier this year, Justice Lee said while the identity of “Josh” was protected, it was “strange” as he was pictured in articles and footage of him was also aired on multiple television programs. The court was told the ABC had redacted its own documents on the basis of relevance in regards to a Marine who was given the pseudonym of “Josh” to protect. High-profile defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Mr Russell who watched the proceedings via AVL, called for an urgent listing in the Federal Court on Tuesday afternoon where she told the court she had been issued “dozens of redacted documents” by the ABC. The matter is set to go to trial later this month, with the ABC no longer relying on a “truth” defence, and instead only using a new public interest test to defend the articles. Heston Russell is suing the ABC over defamation.
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