Peter Symonds
The coronial inquiry into the December 15–16 cafe siege in Sydney
began yesterday, but only for a short opening session. The
carefully-managed hearing made clear that the overriding aim of the
proceedings is to attempt to counter widespread public suspicion about
what happened, while protecting the state and federal governments,
police and intelligence agencies that were responsible for the tragic
outcome.
Over the past six weeks, no official statement has been released
concerning even the most elementary facts about the 17-hour siege that
ended with the deaths of the hostage-taker Man Haron Monis and two
hostages—barrister Katrina Dawson and Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson.
In a highly unusual step, State Coroner Michael Barnes instructed
counsel assisting the coroner, Jeremy Gormly, to “answer speculation”
and release some details of the events.
After outlining what he claimed would be a full investigation of the
events, Gormly provided a highly-selective account of what took place on
December 15–16 that pre-empted many of the issues that the inquiry is
to examine. No evidence was provided to support his “release of facts,”
nor was there any opportunity for it to be challenged. While Gormly
declared that what he presented was only his “current interpretation,”
nevertheless his comments will stand as the only official statement
until the inquest resumes, which could well be months away.
Gormly’s “release of facts” dealt solely with two discrete
episodes—the start of the siege after Monis entered the cafe in central
Sydney at 8.33 a.m. on December 15 and its tragic conclusion when police
stormed the premises in the early hours of December 16. While providing
some details, the account was chiefly significant for what it excluded.
Gormly shed no light on Monis’s extensive contact with police and
intelligence agencies prior to the siege, whether he was being
monitored, or if he had been identified on any of the many cameras that
monitor Martin Place where the cafe is located. Monis had previously
protested outside the Martin Place studios of Channel Seven, which
beefed up its security in response.
The 50-year-old Monis was an erratic and unstable individual—an
Iranian refugee and self-proclaimed Shiite cleric who faced charges over
allegations of sexual assault and assisting the murder of his ex-wife.
Gormly said the coronial inquiry will seek a psychiatric assessment of
Monis, as well as delve into other aspects of his life.
According to Gormly’s account, Monis was in the cafe for at least
half an hour before telling the manager to lock the doors. He pulled out
a sawn-off shotgun, ordered staff and customers against a wall and told
them to display a flag with Arabic script, which was not that of the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). At 9.44 a.m., he instructed Tori
Johnson to ring the emergency 000 number and tell the operator that he
and others had been taken hostage in the Lindt cafe, radio-controlled
bombs had been placed in three city locations and that Australia was
under attack by ISIS. The claims about the bombs were false, as were
those about ISIS .
Within minutes, police and the paramilitary Tactical Response Unit
were on the scene. Gormly made no mention of the fact that high-level
decisions were taken to elevate the situation into a major national
crisis. Around 10 a.m., Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the cabinet
national security committee met and in league with the state government
in New South Wales, set in motion a massive police operation that sealed
off much of central Sydney.
The 000 call, which had not previously been reported to the public,
lasted 12 minutes, yet no further details were released yesterday. Did
Monis identify himself? Did he issue any demands? As it turned out
later, after the siege was over, Monis issued very limited demands—an
ISIS flag, an acknowledgement that the siege was an ISIS attack and a
phone call with Abbott. Yet these demands were deliberately ignored.
Gormly’s account appears to be scripted to justify the transformation
of what was a serious, but relatively straightforward police matter
into a “terrorist” crisis—all in a very short time-frame. Yet as Gormly
acknowledged, “it seems he [Monis] had not established any contact with
Islamic State”—a fact that would have been known to Australian
intelligence agencies.
The Abbott government, supported by the Labor opposition and a
compliant media, seized on cafe standoff to create an atmosphere of
uncertainty and fear that fed into its “war on terror” agenda of
supporting the US-led war in the Middle East and ramming through a
battery of draconian anti-terror laws.
Gormly’s description of the end of the siege around 2 a.m. on
December 16 was likewise carefully tailored. He provided graphic details
of Monis’s execution-style killing of Tori Johnson, which was widely
circulated in today’s establishment media. However, what prompted the
shooting was the increasingly desperate situation inside the cafe that
had been created by the refusal of state and federal governments to
negotiate on any of Monis’s demands.
The authorities insisted that the media suppress all news about Monis
and his demands, no doubt concerned that public pressure for
negotiations could mount. Inside the cafe, the hostages were frantically
trying to get the message out, with one appealing to “send the fricking
Islamic flag.” Gormly revealed that he would have to sift through over
three hundred 000 calls, as well as many emails, Facebook pages and
other social media. Just before Johnson’s murder, a third batch of
hostages made a desperate escape by breaking down a door.
The decision not to negotiate with Monis and to block all media
coverage of his demands is likely to remain shrouded in secrecy. Gormly
indicated that there would be an examination of the police management of
the siege, but foreshadowed that “we will have to bear in mind that
public exposure of details of plans of that type can themselves involve
security issues. That evidence may require special treatment.” The role
of political actors such as Abbott will remain well outside the bounds
of the inquiry.
The police storming of the cafe resulted in the deaths of Monis and
Katrina Dawson, as well as the injury of three other hostages and a
member of the police paramilitary assault team. Monis died in a hail of
bullets, including two to the head. Dawson was hit by six police bullets
or fragments of bullets, one of which severed a major blood vessel. All
the other injuries were caused by police bullets.
Once they get underway, the coronial inquiry’s proceedings are likely
to reveal more details of the events surrounding the Sydney siege.
However, one can predict in advance that the inquest will avoid any
examination of the manner in which the Abbott government and the
establishment as a whole exploited the siege for reactionary political
purposes and the impact of their decisions on its outcome.
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