The spy-turned-whistleblower who revealed Australia bugged East Timor's cabinet rooms and his lawyer have hit out at the "Kafkaesque" criminal charges levelled against the pair.
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The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions on Thursday said the man known as Witness K, and his lawyer Bernard Collaery, have been charged with conspiring to communicate secret information.
"The charge of conspiracy against Witness K and myself is Kafkaesque," Mr Collaery told AAP
He expects the case to drag out for years and eventually reach the High Court.
The former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent was a key witness for East Timor in a case against Australia over allegations Dili's cabinet rooms were bugged during negotiations over a gas and oil treaty in 2004.
As well as the conspiracy charges both face, Mr Collaery has also been charged with communicating ASIS information.
The alleged offences were committed before the penalties were increased in 2014, so they carry maximum penalties of two years jail.
Attorney General Christian Porter confirmed prosecutors had sought his permission to lay the charges and consent was given.
"The priority must be to allow judicial processes to be conducted without commentary which could impact on the fairness and regularity of those proceedings," he said.
Witness K was supposed to give evidence at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague but was unable to leave Australia because his passport was seized in 2012.
East Timor dropped the spy case against Australia last year as an act of goodwill before signing a new resources treaty.
Mr Collaery is disappointed Witness K, who has been denied a passport now for more than four years, has been unable to fully enjoy life in retirement.
"I do not believe that the Australian people will support the notion that our secret service should join in a conspiracy to defraud the people of the poorest nation in Asia," Mr Collaery said.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, himself a former intelligence agent turned whistleblower, used parliamentary privilege to reveal the charges on Thursday.
"This is obviously an insane development in its own right," Mr Wilkie said in parliament.
"With the diplomacy out of the way it's time to bury the bodies."
The Australian Lawyers Alliance slammed the charges against Mr Collaery.
"We need to remind ourselves that many lawyers around Australia, acting in the best interests of their clients and justice, make available materials that may embarrass governments or expose wrongdoing," spokesman Greg Barns said.
"It is right and proper that they continue to do when circumstances require."
East Timor and Australia signed a renegotiated treaty in March, carving up $56 billion in potential revenue from oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.
East Timor, one of the world's most impoverished nations, will reap between 70 to 80 per cent of the revenue from the Greater Sunrise fields under the agreement.
Australian Associated Press
