David McBride, a former Australian military lawyer jailed for leaking classified defence documents about Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, has been released on parole after serving 27 months of a five-year-and-eight-month sentence. McBride, who is being treated for treatable lung cancer, will serve the remainder of his sentence in the community under supervision, according to a spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland. His leaked documents underpinned a 2017 ABC News series alleging war crimes by Australian special forces, which later contributed to the landmark Brereton Report (a 2020 government inquiry that found credible evidence Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians), leading to ongoing criminal proceedings against several soldiers including Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living soldier.