Australian Government Orders Extensive Investigation into Sydney Hostage Incident

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ordered on Wednesday, December 17, that extensive investigations be conducted into the Sydney hostage situation to determine why the judicial system failed to prevent a former offender with a firearm from taking hostages despite tightened security laws. According to Reuters, during the police raid on the Lindt Cafe in Sydney on Tuesday, December 16, to free the hostages, three people, including the hostage-taker named Haron Monis, were killed. The police are currently investigating how the two hostages died, and it remains unclear whether they were killed in a crossfire or by Haron Monis. Haron Monis, a self-proclaimed Iranian cleric, was granted political asylum in Australia in 2001. Despite being charged with involvement in murder and numerous counts of inappropriate behavior and sexual assault, he had been released on bail. In October of this year, Australia passed strict and comprehensive security laws aimed at preventing the strengthening of extremist tendencies, stopping individuals from joining extremist Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria, and preventing domestic threats. Dozens of Australian extremists had joined these groups. The Prime Minister stated that despite increased powers for security agencies, Haron Monis was not on their list of dangerous individuals and was able to enter a cafe in Sydney with a legally purchased weapon on an ordinary day. The New South Wales police stated that there is no report indicating that Haron Monis had a licensed firearm. In 2012, Haron Monis was convicted for sending threatening letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Tony Abbott said that both the federal and local governments must identify existing weaknesses in the system through these investigations and determine how to prevent similar attacks in the future. The New South Wales judicial system, which is the most populous state in Australia, has faced severe criticism. One police official expressed concern about why this individual was released on bail in the first place. The police had requested the court to deny his bail application; however, since the charges against Haron Monis were not related to political violence and he was not on the security list, the police did not pay special attention to his case. Tony Abbott also criticized the method of releasing criminals on bail. Greg Barnes, a spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Association, stated that due to the long gap between arrest and trial and the presumption of innocence, many individuals are released on bail. A new strict law for granting bail has been passed but will not be enforceable until police, courts, and lawyers complete training by late January 2015. On Wednesday, the police reported that a man has been charged for making threatening phone calls to a mosque in western Sydney. This is one of the reports indicating that following the hostage incident, anti-Islamic sentiments may rise in Australia. In 2005, racial tensions between white residents of the coastal area of Cronulla and Muslim youth in western Sydney led to several days of riots involving thousands of people. The deputy police chief told reporters that there have been reports of crimes related to discriminatory or insulting behavior, but these are not comparable to the widespread support. Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed condolences to the Australian Prime Minister over the hostage incident during a phone call on Tuesday night. Reports indicate that on Wednesday, people continued to show their sympathy by placing flowers and signing a memorial book for the victims and survivors of the incident. The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that it had repeatedly warned Australia about Haron Monis, who fled Iran and claimed to be under pursuit.