The Afghan sergeant who shot and killed three Australian soldiers eight years ago in a "green on blue" attack inside a secure army base may have already been released under a US-backed deal with the Taliban.
The father of one of the slain soldiers said he feared the deal was already done and the former Afghan National Army sergeant, known as Hektamullah, was a free man.
However, this has not yet been confirmed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has been attempting to have Hektamullah retained in custody pending further negotiations with US President Donald Trump.
Hugh Poate is the father of Canberra's Private Robert Poate, who was one of the three unarmed Australians shot and killed in cold blood by the trusted Afghan as the soldiers played cards in the early evening after a daytime patrol. Mr Poate said he had heard from independent sources that Hektamullah had been released from prison.
He also said there had been a lack of communication between himself, the other affected families, and the Defence department about any developments on the prisoner release deal, which only caused him to fear the worst.
He said that he had been "stonewalled and stymied" when he attempted to find out more information.
He believed that had the original death sentence on Hektamullah been carried out in the first place "none of this [release deal] would have happened".
Interviewed in Sydney on Tuesday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese described it as a "failure of democracy".
"And frankly, the families of those who were murdered in cold blood by this terrorist action will be really hurting if it is the case that this terrorist is released," he said.
"The fact is that the United States needs to understand that this is a major issue here in Australia, and this person should not be released. Full stop."
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten went even one step further in an interview on Nine, when he said that "they should have taken him [Hektamullah] out with a Hellfire missile, that was legitimate".
"It makes me ashamed. This is wrong," Mr Shorten said.
"And we've let the families down. We've let the other diggers down who served with these men. You shouldn't be able to kill Australians overseas and then have your closest ally give away the murderer in a prisoner swap. It's not on. We have to stand up to Trump and say not on."
