Abbott orders review of 'preventable' cafe siege

Critics baffled about why someone with a violent past was on the streets

Australia's prime minister said on Thursday that a deadly siege at a Sydney cafe may have been preventable, as critics demanded to know why the gunman was out on bail despite facing a string of violent charges.

Man Haron Monis, a 50-year-old, self-styled cleric with a lengthy criminal history, burst into a downtown Sydney cafe on Monday wielding a shotgun and taking 17 people inside hostage.

The police surrounded the cafe and the siege ended 16 hours later when officers stormed in to free the captives, two of whom were killed in a barrage of gunfire, along with Monis.

"This has been a horrific wake-up call," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Macquarie Radio. "This was an atrocity - it may well have been a preventable atrocity, and that's why this swift and thorough review is so important."

Abbott has ordered a government review of the siege, of why Monis was out on bail and how he obtained a shotgun despite the country's tough gun laws.

Court documents detail Monis' history with the law. In 2011, Noleen Hayson Pal - his ex-partner and mother of their two sons - went to the police after she said Monis threatened her life. He was subsequently charged with stalking and intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm.

Pal testified in January 2012 that Monis said to her, "If I don't get to see the boys more than I am seeing them now, I'll make sure you pay for it - even if it means I have to shoot you."

Pal said she feared he would carry out his threat and said he grew increasingly paranoid when "he started getting more into his Islamic activities", insisting on drawing the blinds and shutting all the doors when he visited her house.

Monis was ultimately found not guilty of the charge.

A year later, Pal was stabbed to death and set on fire. Police charged Monis' then-partner, Amirah Droudis, with Pal's murder, and charged Monis as an accessory. Both were out on bail on the charges when Monis launched Monday's attack. He had also been granted bail on dozens of charges of sexual assault dating back to 2002.

Monis was convicted and sentenced last year to 300 hours of community service for sending what a judge called "grossly offensive" letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009.

Just three days before his attack, Australia's highest court refused to hear his appeal against that conviction.

The next business day, Monis walked into the cafe, a short stroll from the courtroom where the ruling was delivered.

"I was incredulous and exasperated at this," Abbott said. "This guy has a long history of violence, a long history of mental instability, he has a long criminal record and obvious infatuation with extremism. It was extraordinary he was on our streets."

New South Wales Attorney General Brad Hazzard said he has asked the director of public prosecutions to review all cases where bail has been granted and where there are any similarities to Monis' case.

(China Daily 12/19/2014 page11)