The Sydney siege inquest was an inquest into the deaths that occurred during the Lindt Cafe siege, which was instigated by Man Haron Monis. The inquest started on 29 January 2015, had more than 100 witnesses and was run in blocks into 2016.
In Australia, an inquest is mandatory whenever a person dies during a police operation. The inquest was presided over by the New South Wales State Coroner, Michael Barnes, and its task was "to determine how the [three] deaths occurred, the factors that contributed to them and whether they could have been prevented".
Two unusual features of the inquest were its detailed opening which provided an account of events in order to dispel speculation and its focus on social media, believed to be merited by police because of its significant role.
The hearings were divided into blocks of a couple of weeks. The first, started on 25 May 2015, queried people who had known Monis in order to get background information. The second started on 17 August 2015 and considered Monis's bail application. Further blocks that investigate how the police dealt with the siege itself were withheld from the public "in the interests of the families".
On 20 May, the Crown Prosecutor wrote a letter arguing that the question of Monis' bail was beyond the scope of the inquest. This was ruled on by Coroner Barnes on 5 June. Five documents relating to Monis' bail were kept secret on the grounds of professional legal privilege.
The findings of the inquest were released on 24 May 2017.
First two-week block: people who knew Monis The first two-week block started on 25 May 2015, taking evidence from people who knew Monis. Coroner Barnes said that a central question is, "Was Monis a so-called lone wolf prosecuting an ISIS-style terror attack, or a deranged individual pursuing a personal private grievance in a public manner?"
29 March 2015
Hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman told police that a woman would be shot if they did not move cars visible from the window. (It is unclear whether the cars were moved.) Morton-Hoffman helped calm down an increasingly agitated Monis multiple times throughout the 17-hour ordeal.
31 March 2015 Hostage Ms Ma said that Man Haron Monis was becoming increasingly agitated as the siege entered the early hours of the morning.
25 May 2015 On 25 May, a summary of Monis' life in Australia was presented, depicting him as a "complex and secretive" man. This included his request for asylum, and his being accused of sexual offenses against women. He had been diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia at different times. He also joined the Rebels Motorcycle Club but was not liked and was rejected as a member in mid 2013. By 2014, Monis was "a man who was spiralling out of control", with few friends and no standing with any community.
The inquest heard from Hassan Zoabi who had employed Monis in 1997 as a security guard and said his manners were "impeccable". A solicitor for Monis, Franklin Arguedas, said that Monis avoided giving identification or an address. In 2005, Arguedas had confronted customs about Monis' claims that he was being "picked on". Arguedas thought Monis "wanted to be treated like the prime minister", and so suggested that Monis seek [psychological] therapy. Customs director John Valastro noted that Monis' "threshold for questions was quite low. Any time a customs officer asked a personal question it would seem to generate an excessive response." Catherine Wood of Amnesty International then testified that after interviewing Monis in 2010, "It was very much like he was standing on a soap box, he was painting himself as a noble victim ... it was a story of victimhood and persecution. It was nonstop."
27 May 2015 On 27 May, community corrections officer Margaret Kedzierska said Monis finished his service "mostly satisfactorily", although he complained about being victimised by an officer at the Police Citizens Youth Club. Monis was treated by psychiatrist Kristen Barrett in 2010 and 2011 for mild chronic schizophrenia. He was initially quite paranoid about ASIO and "groups from Iran", but was not threatening or intimidating. Monis improved by July 2010, and undertook an unarmed security guard course in 2012. He was considered to be a "show off". Psychiatrist Daniel Murray treated Monis for panic disorder and depression in 2010, but did not know that Monis was also seeing Barrett.
28 May 2015 On 28 May, several psychiatric professionals said that they interviewed Monis on various occasions in 2010 and 2014. They considered him paranoid, anxious, and self-obsessed, but harmless. He could seem somewhat delusional and intimidating, but at other times cooperative and logical.
Senior constable Murray Northey then testified that he had spent several months examining Monis's digital trail but found no evidence of contact with ISIS. Monis had a Twitter account but only twelve followers, although after the siege, he had 898. Monis's daughter in Iran married a man that wanted to come to Australia so she could be with Monis.
29 May 2015 On 29 May, lawyer Nazir Daawar said that he found Monis "a smart guy, but a very evil smart guy". Daawar refused to represent Monis over the Afghan letters and went so far as to say "he would have urged police to shoot him with 'no negotiation'". Dawaar had served in Afghanistan and demanded that Monis plead guilty over the letters he had written to families of soldiers that were killed there. Conversely, lawyer Chris Murphy told the court he thought Monis was "not very intelligent" and a "broken man" who "cried like a baby" when recounting alleged mistreatment in Silverwater jail. All of the lawyers spoke of Monis' attention-seeking behaviour.
At the end of the first week, a picture has emerged of "a complex, disturbed individual desperate for recognition and status but completely lacking the skills or achievements to bring that dream to life". Gormly summarised that "Monis could be plausible, courteous and controlled, but he was also almost entirely consumed in his own self-importance. ... By 2014 he owned no property, was in debt, and had developed no employment skills. His attempts to develop a personal, religious following ... had failed. ... He was facing future serious criminal charges... he had made no public impact of note on the Australian political scene". Monis may have felt that he had "little left to live for".
1 June 2015 On 1 June, family law solicitor Olivia Wilkins said that in 2011 she found Monis passive, paranoid, and difficult. Court social worker Sylvia Martin also noted that Monis wore a strange suit in court, describing it as a "cream coloured suit with vertical black stripes". She thought Monis needed to be "[a] hero in his own story."
When Monis married Noleen Pal in 2002, he had been "quite westernised", but around 2007, he became more strict, demanding that she wear a veil and imposing corporal punishment on their children. He also spent some time away from home. Pal said Monis had wanted to be a martyr for Islam, and she did not want this to influence her children. Monis denied this, and Martin did not think Monis wanted to be a martyr, but was instead seeking for attention.
Solicitor David Cohen said Monis was polite, moderately intelligent, researched things, and opinionated.
Monis' final lawyer John Miller said that Monis had become religious, writing "in the name of God" on top of his affidavit.
2 June 2015 On 2 June, David Richardson of Channel 7 described his coverage of Monis in 2010. Channel Seven security coordinator Scott McIlveena said he met Monis protesting about the way Muhamed Haneef had been covered. Monis rushed at Sunrise hosts in Martin Place calling them "killers and terrorists" but kept his distance when asked.
Associate Ahmad Alaei said that Monis proposed dubious business deals and then wanted to work for Alaei. Alaei let Monis stay in a house that he owned.
Monis courted Amanda Morsy in 2003 who noted Monis drank some alcohol. She found Monis generous but secretive, also saying he was "just reserved. He just wanted to fit in to any group."
3 June 2015 On 3 June, flatmate Amin Khademi said that Monis had been difficult to live with, and that Khademi had tried to persuade Monis not to send letters to the families of killed servicemen. Four other witnesses including Monis's girl friend's cousin confirmed Monis' polite but secretive nature as well as his grandstanding.
Second block: bail The second block began hearing evidence on 17 August 2015. It focused on why Monis was granted bail before the siege, his previous bail history, whether prosecuting authorities responded appropriately to his applications for bail, and whether procedures should be changed. However, Coroner Barnes said that it was unfair to blame the bail process for the siege because no one could have been expected to foresee the events that followed.
The director of public prosecutions wanted to keep documents relating to the application secret, but Coroner Barnes) has released some documents.
17 August 2015 Counsel assisting the inquiry, Jeremy Gormly SC, said, "The bail story of Mr Monis is long and complex." Gormly noted that some system of granting bail is needed to distinguish between accusing someone of an offense and conducting a fair trial, and that a system of bail is found in all advanced countries and reflects the rule of law. Under the new act, the granting of bail was on the basis of risk assessment that an accused would fail to appear, commit another offence, or interfere with a witness or evidence.
Monis's first bail was for sending letters to families of dead servicemen. His second bail was on the charge of being an accessory to the murder of his wife. His third bail was for sexual assaults (not rape) that were only prosecuted years after the events. In each case, Monis appeared to fully comply with all bail conditions. A panel of bail experts told the inquest that bail was appropriately given, although prosecutors had not known of Monis's independent offenses. Detective senior constable Denise Vavayis had concerns that Monis might harass the sexual assault complainants, but Monis did not do so.
The inquest considered whether the siege was an act of terrorism. Junior counsel Sophie Callan said that Monis made no attempt to contact ISIS. Rodger Shanahan from the Lowy Institute considered Monis to be mentally disturbed rather than a terrorist, citing the lack of communication with ISIS, the absence of an ISIS flag, and a Shia headband (ISIS opposes Shia). Bruce Hoffman from the Georgetown University disagrees, considering the strategic location opposite Channel Seven. A psychologist thought the siege was not reflective of an ISIS attack, noting that Monis apologised to his victims.
Monis acquired the shotgun fairly recently, as searches had been performed on his premises from 2009 to 2013. It was a grey market farm gun rather than a black market gun, but it should have been surrendered in 1996 or 1998. It had been sawn off for more efficient concealment.
It was noted that the DPP officer who approved Monis' bail was inexperienced.
18 August 2015 Detective Eugene Stek criticised the simplified Bail Act 2013, which had a single test: asking if the accused posed an unacceptable risk, and then whether conditions could mitigate that risk. Stek accused Monis of being an instigator of the Lakemba protests after counter-terrorism police raided several roads, but upon questioning by Gormly admitted that there was no evidence for this.
Monis's compliance with the terms of his bail made it difficult to refuse him further bail, but the police never connected the various offenses that he was accused of, none of which were related to terrorism.
19 August 2015