Melville House Books

In Australia, “An author whose bank account was frozen because he co-wrote a book with a former criminal is preparing for a legal battle that could have serious consequences for authors, journalists and media proprietors,” says Corrie Perkin in a report for The Australian.

Author Kingsley Flett published Shadow Warrior in collaboration with “former SAS soldier and criminal” David Everett last year. (After leaving the SAS, Everett became a mercenary and participated in “a series of robberies to support the Karen people’s fight against the Burma military junta.” He was eventually caught and served a ten-year prisong term.) West Australian Director of Public Prosecutions Robert Cock had Flett’s bank account frozen in December under the Criminal Property Confiscation Act 2000, which “provides for a freezing order if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that property is crime-used or crime-derived.”

But Everett apparently received no money from the book, which sold 15,000 copies, and Flett’s lawyers say “their client, who has never committed a crime, should not be punished for telling the story of someone who did.”

The case is expected to go to the West Australian Supreme Court sometime in the next few weeks.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.