On
this date, 16 December 2014, a hostage taker, Man Haron Monis was killed during the
2014 Sydney Hostage Crisis. I will post information about this criminal from
Wikipedia.
Man Haron Monis
|
|||
|
|||
Born
|
Mohammad-Hassan Manteghi
Borujerdi
19 May 1964 Borujerd, Iran |
||
Died
|
16 December 2014 (aged 50)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
||
Cause of
death
|
|||
Residence
|
Bexley North, New South Wales, Australia
|
||
Known for
|
Responsible for the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis
|
||
Religion
|
|
||
Criminal
charge
|
|
||
Criminal
status
|
Died while awaiting trial in Australia
|
||
Spouse(s)
|
Noleen Hayson Pal (ex-wife)
|
||
Website
|
|
||
Man Haron Monis
(19 May 1964 – 16 December 2014) was an Iranian-born refugee Australian
citizen who took hostages in a siege at the Lindt Chocolate Café at Martin
Place, Sydney
on 15 December 2014, lasting for 17 hours, until the early hours of the
following morning. The siege resulted in the death of Monis and two hostages.
While
Monis had a warrant out for his arrest in Iran, he sought
political asylum in Australia in 1996, which was granted in 2001. Monis
variously promoted himself as an Iranian intelligence official, a political
activist, a spiritual healer and expert in black magic, an outlaw
bikie and a Muslim cleric. He told a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with
schizophrenia that he had to change his name for "security reasons,"
variously calling himself "Michael Hayson Mavros", "Sheikh
Haron", and "Ayatollah Mohammed Manteghi Boroujerdi".
Monis
ran a "spiritual healing" business, telling some women that they
needed to submit to sexual molestation to receive treatment. In 2014, Monis was
charged with accessory to murder of his ex-wife, as well as over 40 counts of
sexual assault. At the time of his death he had recently converted from Shia Islam
to Sunni
Islam, and attended Islamist rallies promoting conspiracy theories about
Australian security agencies. While on bail, and facing a likely lengthy
imprisonment, he declared allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant.
Life
in Iran
Monis
was born in Borujerd, Iran
in 19th May, 1964. He published a book of poetry, Inside and Out or Daroon
va Boroon (Persian: درون
و برون), in 1996 in
Iran. It did not sell well, which disappointed Monis. In the 1990s, Monis ran a
company called Salhani Amal (Persian: صالحان عمل), which he used to buy discounted tyres
from the Iranian government and re-sell them on the black market. He also ran a
charity scam to avoid paying tax.
In
2001, using the pseudonym Ayatollah Manteghi Boroujerdi, he claimed in an
interview with ABC Radio National's
The Religion Report that he had been involved with the Iranian ministry of
intelligence and security, and that his criticism of the regime and
secret information he possessed had resulted in his persecution as well as the
detention of his wife and children. During an ABC Radio interview, he claimed
that his family's detention was a result of views the Iranian government
believed to be "dangerously liberal". David Ruteledge, the journalist
who interviewed him, described his as "a little bit dramatic."
Australia
granted his request for political asylum that year. He claimed that his request
for asylum followed the detention of his wife and children by Iranian
authorities after he espoused liberal views on Islam. According to London-based
Persian TV channel Manoto 1, he had
fled Iran after taking US$200,000
of his customers' money in his tourism agency. The former chief of the Iranian police, Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moghaddam,
stated that Monis previously ran a travel agency in Iran and fled the country
to Malaysia and then Australia, having "a
dark and long history of violent crime
and fraud". According to Iran's
official news agency, he was under prosecution by Interpol and Iranian police at the time he was granted
asylum, and Australian police
did not extradite him despite several requests. Some commentators have
expressed concern regarding this immigration and citizenship process.
Esmaeil
Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Iran's chief of police, told reporters that
Monis had "a dark and long history of violent crime and fraud"
in Iran and had run a travel agency in 1996, before fleeing to Malaysia and then Australia. "It
lasted 4 years to collect evidence on Manteghi [Monis]'s identification
documents and we reported this to the Australian police but since Australia has
no extradition treaty
with Iran, they didn't extradite him to Iran". He was protected from
extradition by his refugee status.
Iran's
official Islamic
Republic News Agency states that he was "under prosecution by
the Interpol" and Iran provided
information to the Australian
government about his criminal record, mental and spiritual status.
Despite this, he was granted asylum in Australia. Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham publicly questioned the
decisions made by the Australian government after several discussions in which
Monis's criminal status in Iran was made "completely clear".
Life
in Australia
He
migrated to Australia as a refugee in 1996 seeking political
asylum. He used a one-month business visa to gain entry to the country. He
applied for a protection visa when his business visa expired, and was granted a
bridging visa while the protection visa application was assessed.
From
1997 to 2000, Monis held a security guard licence, which would have let him
carry a pistol between March and June 1997.
In
November 2000, he chained himself to a pole at Parliament House, Sydney, and went on a
one-day hunger strike to draw attention to his cause.
On
16 September 2002, Monis changed his name to Michael Hayson Mavros. While he
was known as Mavros, he seemed to be 'embracing a secular life'. On 21
September 2006, he changed his name to Man Haron Monis.
Monis
was investigated by the Australian Security
Intelligence Organisation four times, and there were more than 40 calls to
ASIO's National Security Hotline.
The family of his partner called the National Security Hotline in 2010 and were
advised Monis "wasn't a threat". Monis had been on the Australian Security
Intelligence Organisation's watch-list in 2008 and 2009, but was dropped
off the list for reasons that were not specified. In 2009, in Granville, NSW, Monis gave a lecture
calling for an Islamic society and taunting foreign governments saying, “your
intelligence service is not working properly.”
Monis
lived in a flat with a housemate for six months in 1998. Monis said he was a
senior member of the clergy in Iran, always locked his bedroom door, even when
he went to the bathroom, and told his housemate not to bring friends over and
not to answer the door if anyone knocked. Monis said that he was in
"financial hardship" and borrowed payments amounting to $9,000 -
which were never repaid.
2.1 Spouses
In
2003, Monis dated Amanda Morsy for about six months, telling her he was
Romanian, giving her gold necklaces and driving her to dates in a Mercedes,
convertible Peugeot and a Jeep. Monis was unable to be contacted after 8pm,
claiming he was busy with his “spiritual consultation” business. Morsy
described him as "secretive", "very reserved" and
"formal" and wanting to "fit in" - and broke the
relationship off after her family expresses reservations about his personality.
In
2003, Monis married a woman who was a client of his black magic business,
though always kept his blinds closed, and told people at a Sydney mosque that
he had a wife in Iran.
In
July 2011, Monis was charged at a St Mary's police station for intimidation
of his ex-wife, Noleen Hayson Pal, following a confrontation in a McDonald's
car park in Green Valley. Pal claimed Monis had
threatened to shoot her and told her that he held a gun licence.
In
2010, the family of Amirah Droudis reported Monis to the National Security
Hotline because they found his behaviour strange. He was secretive with the
family and always refused to have his photo taken even at Christmas. He gave
them the appearance of having money and being "very generous" but
vague about where he worked. They described him as "rarely forthcoming
with any direct or detailed answers."
Social
worker Sylvia Martin talked with Monis during a meeting with his former wife,
Noleen Pal, in 2012. She described Monis as prone to "grandiosity" and
a "hero in his own story" describing him as "capable of
narcissism and also capable of manipulation." Noleen Pal said that Monis
had "intimidated, duped and emotionally manipulated her" and that
around 2007 he "became more strict" and told her to wear a veil, and
restricted her from "singing and dancing" allegedly telling her
"I'm doing it for Islam ... I want to be a martyr".
2.1.1 Accessory
to Murder charge
On
21 April 2013, Pal's body was found stabbed 17 times and alight in a Werrington
apartment stairwell. Monis' girlfriend Amirah Droudis was formally charged with
Pal's murder, and on 15 November 2013, Monis was charged by NSW Police with being
an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of Pal.
On
12 December 2013, Monis and Amirah appeared before Magistrate William Pierce at
Penrith Local Court where they were granted bail. The magistrate said there
were significant flaws in the Crown's case against the pair. "It is a weak
case" he said. Prosecutor Brian Royce said Monis' claims that the Iranian
Secret Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) were
trying to frame him for the murder were fanciful. Magistrate Pierce said all
theories needed to be examined.
On
22 January 2014, Monis appeared at Parramatta Local Court and, after informing
magistrate Joan Baptie that he was representing himself, began discussing
documents that he claimed were held by ASIO. He also claimed that ASIO was
"conspiring against him" as they wanted him jailed. Magistrate Baptie
told Monis that she had no power to order the release of documents held by ASIO
and "advised him to stop talking because he would harm his defence".
Monis staged a protest outside the court, following the adjournment of the
case, "wearing chains and holding a sign claiming he has been tortured in
custody". He was quoted as saying: "This is not a criminal case. This
is a political case."
2.2 Claims of membership of Iranian Intelligence
Monis
told individuals in Australia, including his lawyers, that he had worked for
the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security and had knowledge about
Iran's clandestine operations, and that it was for this reason he fled Iran.
However, an Iranian embassy official stated Monis' claim to have worked in
intelligence and security in Iran was a lie.
Monis
said he was the secretary of the Iranian intelligence department.
2.3 Allegations of fabricated cleric status
Monis
proclaimed himself to be a Muslim cleric. In late
2007, Australian
Federation of Islamic Councils head Ikebal Patel said no Islamic
community leaders knew anything about Monis and believed he "could be a
fake deliberately stirring up anti-Islamic sentiment".
On
28 January 2008, Australia's senior Shia leader and head of Supreme
Islamic Shia Council of Australia, Kamal Mousselmani, told The Australian that Monis "was not
a genuine Shia spiritual leader" and "there are no ayatollahs in Australia." He urged
Federal government officials to investigate his identity. "From the way he
writes his fatwas (or religious edicts), I don't think
he is Shia Muslim", he added.
2.4 Psychiatric assessment
In
2010 Monis was involuntarily hospitalized at Canterbury Hospital after displaying bizarre
and erratic behaviour in a parking lot in Ashfield. A psychiatrist who assessed
Monis in said she believed he had chronic schizophrenia and needed to be on
anti-psychotic medication. Monis stated that he had been forced to close his
spiritual business, was $20,000 in debt, and had to change his name for
"security reasons." Monis was treated by two different psychiatrists
who didn't know about the other and he was giving them different information.
He was described as "quite guarded and reluctant to disclose too much
information" and refused to give his phone number and home address. He was
concerned that "ASIO and police were following him... and that some people
could read his mind," according to a psychologist who grew up in Iran, who
diagnosed him with obsessive compulsive disorder. He avoided buying medication
for mental illness with his medicare card to conceal his use of medication from
authorities.
One
solicitor said that Monis seemed paranoid and would often speak with his hand
over his mouth because he thought people "watching him" might be able
to lip read.
2.5 Hate mail campaign
Monis,
together with Amirah Droudis, undertook a campaign protesting against the
presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan, by writing letters to the
families of soldiers killed there, in which he called the soldiers murderers,
and urged the soldiers' families to petition the government to remove its
troops from Afghanistan. According to Justice Dyson Heydon of the High Court,
the letters compared "the (deceased soldier) son to a pig and to a dirty
animal. It calls the son's body 'contaminated'. It refers to it as 'the dirty
body of a pig'. It describes Hitler as not inferior to the son in moral
merit". Monis was arrested on charges of "using a postal or similar
service to menace, harass or cause offence". Droudis received a 2-year
good-behaviour bond for "assisting Monis in sending the letters". She
appealed the sentence, but on 12 March 2015 Droudis dropped her appeal.
2.6 Court cases
On
10 November 2009, Monis appeared in court and claimed through his lawyers to be
a peace activist. He later chained himself to the courthouse in protest over
the charges. Monis was subsequently barred by the courts from expanding his
protest to include letters to UK soldiers' families. In an
inquest, lawyer Chris Murphy said that Monis claimed to be contacting families
to recruit "people who had suffered loss in war" to join his cause.
Murphy said "He didn't strike me as very intelligent." Monis chained
himself to the courthouse against the directions of lawyers, and Murphy said
"He was entirely self absorbed with his performance ... my recollection is
he held a pen in the air and said 'this is my sword'." Lawyers described
Monis as a "pest" and a "dickhead".
Manny
Conditsis said that conversations with Monis were "draining and
exhausting." Monis expressed conspiracy theories about ASIO, claiming that
families of dead soldiers were not upset at his letters, but "ASIO was
putting them up to it." He said "Monis was a very proud man,"
who cried "like a baby" in prison. Another lawyer said he always
wanted to be "the centre of attention" in the media.
In
December 2011, Monis appeared before the Court of
Criminal Appeal in Sydney arguing that the charges against him were
invalid because they infringed on his implied constitutional freedom of
political communication, but the three-judge panel unanimously dismissed his
case.
Upon
further appeal to the High Court of
Australia, the six-judge panel split 3–3 over the issue. Although
the High Court of
Australia normally comprises seven judges, one seat was vacant and
as yet unfilled at the time Monis's case appeared before the court. Failing to
achieve a majority vote in Monis's favour, the lower court's unanimous decision
was left to stand.
On
12 December 2014, Monis' appeal against his
conviction for criminal use of the postal service resulted in a split decision
of the High Court. The decision related to his protest against the presence of
Australian troops in Afghanistan,
which he expressed by sending letters to the families of soldiers killed there
in which he called the soldiers murderers and urged the families to petition
the government to remove its troops from Afghanistan. One of the letters
compared a dead soldier to a pig and called his body "contaminated".
He sent similar letters to the families of British soldiers and the mother of a
government official killed by a bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia. Monis pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to probation and 300 hours of community service and banned from using the
Australian
postal service. According to The Age, this conviction consumed him
for several years, and the hostage incident followed three days after an
unsuccessful attempt to have the conviction overturned. Monis had been granted
conditional bail because the magistrate said "there were significant flaws
in the Crown's case".
2.7 Rebels Motorcycle Club
Monis
attempted to join the Rebels Motorcycle
Club some time in 2012 or 2013, and photographed with a
"1%" logo representing outlaw motorcycle
clubs. Club members reportedly stated "no one really liked
him" and described him as "strange and weird" and said "He
would say he had a lot of money, but then he didn't have any." He was
kicked out of the club and Rebels took his motorbike.
2.8 Sexual assault charges
Monis
ran a "spiritual healing" business and promoted himself as a
clairvoyant an expert in "astrology, numerology, meditation and black
magic" services. The business has been described as a front for sexual
advances on vulnerable women, who were told that they could only receive
treatment if they were undressed and massaged on the breasts and genitals. With
some women he threatened black magic curses if they did not submit to sex with
him.
On
14 March 2014, Monis was arrested and charged with sexually and indecently
assaulting a young woman who went to his consultancy in Wentworthville, New
South Wales, for "spiritual healing", after seeing an advertisement
in a local newspaper. Seven months later, on 13 October 2014, a further 40 charges
were added, including 22 counts of aggravated sexual assault and 14 counts of
aggravated indecent assault, allegedly committed against six more women who had
visited his business.
2.9 Political activity
Monis
promoted himself as a peace activist, and told his lawyers that his hate-mail
campaign was to make families of dead soldiers support peace.
Commercial
news media in Sydney often condemned Monis for making videos with his
girlfriend narrating, expressing happiness about the Holocaust and 9/11 and
attacking rape victims. Monis hated Channel Seven for their coverage of the Muhamed
Haneef affair,
and ran aggressive protests outside their studios. He once rushed at television
hosts Melissa Doyle and David Koch in Martin Place yelling, “You are a killer
and a terrorist.” Monis would often put on clerical garb and chain himself to a
post visible from the Channel Seven live studio, handing out pamphlets
declaring there was a “War on Islam” - leading the network to move studios when
broadcasting the Sunrise program. Following the Haneef affair, in which a
doctor was accused of aiding terrorists, Monis handed out pamphlets against
Sunrise alleging that they told "Muslim doctors" that "If you
want to kill people, why not use the tools of your own trade like a plague or a
disease or something?" Monis made complaints to Channel Seven and the Australian Communications
and Media Authority, which were dismissed.
Kevin
Rudd publicised his consideration of changes to citizenship laws during the
prosecution of Monis's letters. Monis used social media to attack politicians
including then Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
His criticisms of Abbott, from 2013, related to Australia's military presence
in Afghanistan. On 5 December 2014, he referred to a statement made by Rudd on
changing immigration laws after Monis had been charged with seven counts of
harassment. Before it was taken down, on 15 December 2014, Monis's Facebook
account had 14,000 "likes".
Monis
featured a photograph of Osama bin Laden on his website in 2008.
It
has been reported that Monis was radicalised by members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. In June 2014 Monis attended a
presentation by Uthman Badar and Wassim
Doureihi of Hizb ut-Tahrir which was held in response to an earlier Uthman
Badar lecture titled 'Honour Killings are Morally Justified', which was
cancelled. Monis attended Hizb ut-Tahrir rallies and was described by Sydney
Morning Herald journalist Anne Davies as "a little unstable. He also
seemed a little creepy. Ominously, he also told me he did not think giving
speeches would be enough."
2.9.1 Seeking
contact with ISIS
In
October 2014, Monis wrote a letter to George
Brandis' office seeking advice on the legality of communicating with ISIS.
2.9.2 Conversion
to Sunni Islam
Monis
claimed to have converted from Shia Islam
to Sunni
Islam. An announcement on his now-suspended website, posted a week before
the Sydney siege, stated: "I used to be a Rafidi, but not
any more. Now I am a Muslim, Alhamdu
Lillah." "Rafidi", which means "one who rejects" in
Arabic, "is typically used by Sunnis to denigrate Shias as
non-Muslim." Monis also used his website to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic
State whose 'main enemies' are the Shi'a.
On
the day prior to taking a group of people hostage, Monis posted to his website:
Islam is the religion of peace, that's why Muslims fight against the oppression and terrorism of USA and its allies including UK and Australia. If we stay silent towards the criminals we cannot have a peaceful society. The more you fight with crime, the more peaceful you are. Islam wants peace on the Earth, that's why Muslims want to stop terrorism of America and its allies. When you speak out against crime you have taken one step towards peace.
Australian
Muslim commentators said that his conversion to Sunni Islam was less out of
genuine religious conviction than designed to provide credibility in seeking an
association with ISIL, as one "can't really claim to love IS when you're a
Shiite and they're trying to exterminate you". He was a long-time
self-proclaimed sheikh,
albeit not recognised as such in the Islamic community. He was marginalised by Australian Muslim religious authorities and
mosques for his extremist views and problematic personal and criminal history.
It appears he came to espouse an extreme
Islamist ideology on his own, and police and intelligence agencies have not
identified any connections between Monis and international terrorist organisations.
 |
| Man Haron Monis |
Hostage-taking
and death
Main
article: 2014 Sydney hostage crisis
On
the morning of 15 December 2014, Monis took hostage employees and customers at
the Lindt chocolate café in Martin Place, Sydney, across from a Seven
Network television studio. Hostages were made to hold up a Black Standard with the shahādah
(Islamic statement of faith) written in white Arabic text.
Neighbouring
buildings, including government offices and financial institutions, and Martin Place railway station, were
evacuated and locked down. Some hostages managed to escape. The event lasted
over 16 hours before police tactical officers stormed the café in
the early hours of the following morning and Monis was confirmed by police to
have died in the ensuing confrontation. Two of the hostages also died, several
others were wounded, and a policeman suffered minor injuries.
In
a website posting prior to the hostage incident, Monis denied all the charges
against him, calling them politically motivated, accusing the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Australia's
ASIO of framing him.
No
one claimed Monis's body when it was released by the NSW Coroner, and the
Sydney Muslim community refused to have anything to do with it. He was buried
in an undisclosed NSW location at state expense.
Investigations
Prime
Minister Tony Abbott was briefed by the Australian Federal Police on 16
December 2014 that Monis had a gun licence, but the AFP later confirmed that
Monis "was not a registered firearms licence holder". A joint review
has been announced by the federal and state governments, to be helmed by Michael Thawley from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
and Blair Comley of the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet.
It will investigate the handling of the siege, and how Monis "slipped
through state and federal security and legal nets". Although a call had
been made to the national security hotline based on the contents of Monis'
website, there were no threats of direct violence.
On
16 December 2014, officers from the New South Wales Police Force and the Australian
Federal Police went to the Belmore
home of Monis' partner Amirah Droudis, and removed property. Her bail was
revoked after a hearing on 22 December.
On
29 January 2015 an inquest began into
the deaths at the Lindt Cafe, presided over by the NSW State
Coroner, Michael Barnes. Its aim is "to determine how the [three] deaths
occurred, the factors that contributed to them and whether they could have been
prevented".
The
joint State-Federal review was released on 22 February 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment