The brother of Julian Assange has thrown his support behind a former spy living in exile who made public allegations about ASIO failures leading up to the Bondi Beach terror attack.
Former undercover agent Marcus — whose real name has been withheld to protect his safety — told Four Corners eight months before 15 people were killed in the December 14 attack that Australia was exposed to a pro-Islamic State (IS) network he had infiltrated.
Marcus appeared on the program this week to allege he shared intelligence with ASIO about gunmen Naveed and Sajid Akram’s alleged terrorism associations as far back as 2019.
The father-son duo are accused of draping IS flags on the younger man’s car before opening fire on Jewish Australians celebrating Hanukkah.
Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder.
Sajid Akram was shot dead at the scene.
ASIO told Four Corners it investigated the information at the time, but it could not substantiate it, concluding Naveed Akram, then a teenager, did not present a terrorist threat or subscribe to violent extremist ideology.
Marcus disagreed with the assessment that Naveed Akram was not radicalised at that time.
“What happened on Bondi Beach was a result of a set of errors and a disregard for information,” he told Four Corners.
‘There are threats against his life’
Registered whistleblower support charity The Information Rights Project has now launched a fundraiser in support of Marcus.
Gabriel Shipton, brother of Julian Assange, says Marcus’s life is in danger because of the work he did for ASIO. (Reuters: Toby Melville)
Founder and director Gabriel Shipton claimed Marcus was “basically on the run” now.
“He can’t earn a living, he’s not able to work in the country he’s in,” Mr Shipton said.
“It’s a very precarious existence for him.
“There are … credible threats against his life from the organisation that he infiltrated on behalf of ASIO, while he was working for ASIO, as well as … [ASIO] discrediting Marcus.”
Asked about Mr Shipton’s comments, an ASIO spokesperson referred the ABC to ASIO director-general Mike Burgess’s comments to a Senate estimates hearing this week in which he rejected the suggestion Akrams’ extremism was longstanding.
He said ASIO’s report would set out the agency’s position and the royal commission would “make their own judgements”.
An ASIO spokesperson said in a statement: “If ‘Marcus’ faces credible threats following the ABC’s decision to identify him as having allegedly penetrated terrorist groups, we encourage immediate engagement with law enforcement.”
The ABC understands Marcus is currently separated from his family while protecting himself in a safe location.
Money raised would be used to pay for accommodation and day-to-day living expenses until permanent refuge was found, Mr Shipton said.
Marcus ‘unreliable and disgruntled’, ASIO says
Mr Shipton launched The Information Rights Project in 2024 while supporting his brother, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was imprisoned on charges connected to his handling of classified US war documents.
He said Mr Assange had predicted ASIO would try to discredit its former agent after he made allegations about the domestic spy agency.
ASIO has publicly described Marcus as “unreliable and disgruntled”.
“I spoke to [Julian] in the lead-up, and he said exactly what’s happening: that ASIO will come, they will try and discredit Marcus and distance themselves from this, and it exactly happened like he said it would,” Mr Shipton said.
ASIO ordered independent review into Bondi terror case, stands by 2019 assessment
The relationship between Marcus and ASIO disintegrated well before he went public with his allegations about the agency.
Marcus was charged in 2022 with multiple accounts of assault and stalking, which were later withdrawn and dismissed.
His cover was also blown, and he took out a restraining order, telling a Sydney court that extremists threatened to harm him because they discovered his work with ASIO.
ASIO withdrew its support for his permanent residency, and he left the country in 2023.
He is now seeking assistance from Australia for protection and resettlement, and has offered to give evidence to the royal commission examining the Bondi terror attack.
Mr Shipton called on Australians to support Marcus, describing him as a whistleblower.
“Whistleblowers play such an important part in our society, and we really need to get behind them when they blow the whistle, when they bring us this sort of information, to know that they’ve got our support,” he said.