1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. Behind The "News"
  4.  » Iran Requested Sydney Gunman’s Extradition 14 Year Ago

News Commentary — Dec 16, 2014

One of the escaped hostages flees the Lindt cafe. Click to enlarge

One of the escaped hostages flees the Lindt cafe. Click to enlarge

The Sydney siege that left three dead when security forces ended the stand-off in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has also left many unanswered questions..
In particular how a known criminal who had been charged as an accessory to the murder of his own wife and with a string of other offences against him, had been able to evade closer scrutiny. Especially as he had already been convicted of an earlier offence that the judge had described as “grossly offensive”.
At the time Haron Monis, the 50-year-old Iranian born Sydney gunman, had been convicted of sending abusive letters to the families of Australian servicemen killed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009.
Moreover as more facts emerge about Man Haron Monis still more questions are being asked.
Why, for instance, was Monis out on bail? Why was he not on a terror watch list? And how did he get his hands on a shotgun in a country that has tough restrictions on gun ownership?
Australia’s politicians are going through the motions of being outraged.
New South Wales Premier Mike Baird for example has said, “We are all outraged that this guy was on the street”.
So why the hell was he on the streets and armed with a shotgun too? Where and how did he get hold of one? These questions are all the more pressing as Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam revealed on Tuesday that Tehran had earlier warned Australia about Haron Monis.
Haron Monis. Click to enlarge

Haron Monis. Click to enlarge

According to Iran’s chief of police Monis Haron had “a dark and long history of violent crime and fraud” in Iran where he had run a travel agency in 1996, before fleeing the country after having fleeced his customers of nearly $200,000.
However, Iran did more than just warn Australia about Haron Monis. It had in fact requested his extradition to face fraud charges but because there was no formal extradition agreement between the two countries Australia had rejected the request.
Instead Australia allowed Haron Monis to remain, even though the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils had warned that he “could be a fake deliberately stirring up anti-Islamic sentiment”.
With all this in mind we know the answer to at least some of the questions asked by Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott at a press conference on Tuesday:
“How can someone who has had such a long and checkered history not be on the appropriate watch list?” Abbott had asked. “And how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community?”
He was allowed to that’s how.
Abbott’s questions are only an act, a performance intended to deceive an unwitting public into thinking that he’s concerned about what happened. He’s not. The fact is that Australian authorities had already been warned that Haron Monis was “deliberately stirring up anti-Islamic sentiment”.
Iran had even requested his extradition yet Australia did absolutely nothing, even as the criminal charges against Haron Monis mounted.
This event was “allowed” to happen and shadowy figures in Australia’s covert intelligence service may have even helped facilitate it. Such as providing a convicted criminal on bail with a shotgun.
Just like the earlier massacre at Port Arthur, there are many questions that we can expect will remain unanswered. Port Arthur was used to effectively disarm the Australian public, just like the Hungerford shootings in Britain. What will the Sydney shootings be used for?