The Hate Campaign and Other Bedtime Stories

This is the third installment on the person who named himself Man Haron Monis, the perpetrator of the Lindt café siege.  

Let's talk about his past for a minute, his sad attempt to become a biker, and the woman who would do anything for him

This is going to make me angry

grab a drink , you may need to to hear this

music credit "The Brotherhood" By Darren Curtis
www.murderlaide.com
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Transcript

Why hello there you, my delightful and glorious strangeone.  Welcome back to murderlaide the podcast.  The only place where you can come and get your morbid slice of my mind.  As always, I am your host Ann and before we kick off, this is part three of a series on the Lindt café siege and the background of Man Haron Manis.

I am not a journalist nor political correspondent nor am I an expert in islam.  I am an artist with a morbid interest in the darker side of history and this podcast is not meant to be a historical document or meant to replace any of the findings of the coronial inquest into this series of crimes, this is more like a one-sided conversation, you know, between friends, only we have never met.  Move forward at your own discretion but please check your prejudice at the door. 

This podcast contains graphic depictions of violence, salty language and poor grammar.  If any of these things offend you feel free to fuck off ok.

Sources for today’s episode are the abc progam four corners two part special simply titled the siege, from the sbs news website, how the siege unfolded, from the guardian, Sydney café siege ; a timeline of events, an article from Claire Blumer at the abc news titles man Monis’s girlfriend Amerah Droudis sentenced to 44 years jail,  an article from the Australian by Natasha  Bita, (17 December 2014). "'Deranged' Monis granted citizenship in 2004", Arash Azizi wrote an article for Manoto 1 called. "Exclusive: The Sydney hostage-taker had fled Iran after a $200K fraud case",   "Aussie leader: Siege gunman dropped off watch list". Yahoo News. 16 December 2014,  Paul Bibby . "Lindt Cafe siege gunman once had luxurious life in Tehran funded by scam involving Iranian government". The Sydney Morning Herald ,again from the Sydney morning herald by Tim Elliot an article called "Martin Place gunman deranged, deluded and dangerous",  "Sydney siege: Man behind Martin Place stand-off was Iranian Man Haron Monis, who had violent criminal history". Which was by Lorna Knowles for the ABC News.

Ok folks so do you need a recap of the last two episodes, there is a bat crap crazy man who is now calling himself Man Haron Monis, cool, yall caught up now, fabulous let’s get a cracking on this weeks episode.  Oh ok, a real intro, fiiiine.

When last we left off, I was chatting to y’all about the man who recreated himself over and over and in his new and final creation had become Man Harron Manis.  Man Harron had wife and two daughter in Iran he had left behind and seemingly forgotten.  Man Harrron had a gentle and beautiful young wife in Sydney and two small sons.  Man Harron was having a full on affair with Sydney hairdresser Amirah Droudis who had converted to Islam and changed her name to be his one and only, only she wasn’t his one and only.  She was like his third, maybe his fourth.

Man Haron had inserted himself into the Australian political climate, pushing himself on the Australian public under the false pretence that he was an Islamic leader.  Oh, and did I mention that I think this guy is a delusional narcissistic dick head, no, well now I have, let us move on.  

Monis calling himself Shiek Haron was running an anti-Australian website, using Amerah Doudis as his mouthpiece.  They posted hateful terrorist style home movies, espousing all kinds of hateful crap.  A particular group they zeroed in on was Australian troops, then in Iraq as the fall of the regime was pushed and Australia entered the gulf with a large military force.  Sister Amerah as she was now called, along with her lover Man Haron, began a persistent and pretty fucking awful campaign against those from Australia serving in the military, and the families of those who died in combat during this time. 

It began with sister Ameerah’s home made videos being uploaded to Man Haron’s website which was self savingly called Sheik Heron.  Like yeah he named it all after his imaginary better self, then he filled the website with hate.  Hate for Australians, hate for more conservative, anti-violence Muslims leaders, hate for infidels, hate for politicians who ignored him and hate for any military force that was present in a predominantly Muslim nation.  So, in these videos Ameerah spat at Aussie troops overseas, saying over and over that the invasion of the middle east by Australin troops would lead to the death of Australian’s here in this country.

Beginning in 2008 they moved on to the letter writing hat campaigns.  Now this shit is really messed up.  Man Haron and Ameerah Droudis wrote letters to the grieving relatives of soldiers killed in conflict in Afghanistan and harassed them, calling these men who like you know, died at war, regardless of how you feel about the political origins of the conflict, this is completely out of the hands of those who have chosen to join the military or their families right. The things contained in these letters are hateful and absolutely unforgiveable.  In his letters to the father of one Australian soldier Man Haron compared the dead soldier to a pig and a dirty animal.  He suggested that even in death the soldier’s body was contaminated, saying that it was simply now the dirty body of a pig.  He also rambles on about Hitler and about how he was superior to the soldier who died.  He wrote this poor family over and over.  He began the campaign within days of the reports of this soldiers’ death.  He expanded and began writing letters to other families and attempted to contact British soldiers’ families by mail as well.

So this mother fucker went as far as having his little lackey, Ameerah, go to one of the soldiers funerals.  She attempted to give a letter from Man Harron’s letters directly to the family of the dead soldier.  Other family members intervened and Ameerah was detained.  The letter called the soldier, laid to rest that very day, a murderer of innocents.

One of the letters, arrived at the Sher household while they were sitting shiva, the traditional Jewish enclosed morning period after a loved one has died.  Private Greg Sher from Melbourne had been killed in Afghanistan in a rocket attack.  The letter Monis sent in part was admiring Hitler and paraising the Holocaust.  Two copies of this entirely upsetting bullshit were delivered to the family, along with one phone call from Amirah herself.  

Brett Till was an Australian soldier killed in a roadside bombing in 2009 and his widow and parents were also targeted by Amirah and Man Haron.  His widow Bree Till said of the crime quote “We sat in our homes, reading these letters ... This man accusing my husband of being a child killer," end quote.

They also sent hatred via shit letters to the mother of a government employee who was killed in a bombing while working in Jakarta.  This wasn’t a military death.  

These are only three examples of 11 families harassed by the pair.

At the same time Man Haron was also writing letter to fucking everyone.  Like even the Queen and the pope, to complain about Australia and Iran and declare himself a victim of both nations

In a series of court cases starting on the 10th of November 2009, Man Haron Monis and Ameerah Droudis were both charged with federal hate crimes and mail offences.  So they were both convicted in a federal court of using the postal service to send offensive materials.  Get this they were banned from using the post.  Because like you have to be a serious asshole to be banned from using the postal service right.  And to compound all of the injury to these families of fallen diggers, they appealed their convictions over and over.

Man Haron received 300 hours of community service and a two year good behaviour bond.  He appealed saying that sending hate mail was infact part of his constitutional right for freedom of political speech.  The numerous judges in the three appeals disagreed, upholding his convictions.

So I have some statements made by Man Haron’s own defence lawyers who assisted him in these court cases.  So the first lawyer named Chris Murphy says that Monis’s defence the first time was that he was contacting the fallen soldiers families to try and recruit people who had suffered a loss in war to join his cause.  Yeah, cos the best way to get people on side is to call their dead children dogs and suggest the attempted genocide of everyone of your faith was a good thing.  He then went on to say Man Haron quote “did not strike me as very intelligent” end quote.  Monis pulled his old trick and chained himself to the courthouse against his lawyer’s advice, and well you gotta think the lawyer was right because he was convicted. 

Murphy went on to say that quote "He was entirely self-absorbed with his performance ... my recollection is he held a pen in the air and said 'this is my sword'." End quote. His Lawyers described Monis as a "pest" and a "dickhead.

The conversations that happened with these lawyers were pretty revealing.  Monis claimed that the families of the soldiers were actually in secret on his side and that there was an international ASIO conspiracy to have him convicted.  He said that ASIO had coached the families to testify against him.  

Sydney lawyer Manny Conditsis who represented Monis and Droudis said that convoluted conversations with this proud and unstable man who needed to be the centre of attention, that these conversations were draining and exhausting.  They also said in the few short days he spent in jail after his arrest, Man Harron cried like a baby.

Manny said of Amirah  Droudis was a pleasant client to work with. Quote' She's always extremely courteous, pleasant,' he said. 'But… it's also fair to observe that she would defer to Monis.'  This would later prove to be unbelievably true, he would convince her to do the most heinous things, postal hate and harassment of grieving families along with movies slamming one’s country would be the least of the things Man Haron would get Amirah to do.

So he was all, I will die for my cause on the surface, but cry when I face any consequences.

I just want to add, from the family of the former Anastacia Droudis, now Amirah Droudis, they say she was a completely normal person before she met Man Haron.  At the time she was a single mother, and had just come out of a tumultuous eight-year relationship when she met the dominating man.  Anastacia enjoyed partying and wearing super fashionable clothes.  They were all completely shocked when she converted, changed her name and began wearing Muslim garb.  

She would go from Anastacia, the fun-loving party girl in short skirts and makeup who worked at a trendy Sydney hairdresser in Kings Cross, to sister Amirah, wearing a Hijab, and being convicted of hate crimes though the mail pushing the cause of radical Islam, something she had previously had no interest in.  

Family and friends thought she was being brainwashed by the man she had become involved with, and he was 20 years older than her.  She had no criminal history.  She had a few dodgy relationships but managed to pull herself out of them.  

They were convicted in 2009, that conviction was upheld in 2011, again in 2013 but that is far off in the future for now let us focus on 2011 to 2013, a period of turmoil in the now Monis family home. 

In 2011 after a domineering and allegedly violent marriage, Noleen Hyson Pal finally left Man Haron and moved her children and herself away from him into the granny flat at her parents’ home in Green Valley.  By the way, even though she was not a Muslim, Man Haron insisted that his wife cover her hair and submit to the requirements of a woman of his faith.  Before she left her marriage, she had confided in her godfather that Man Haron beat her and the kids.  He had made her wear a Hijab under threat that if she didn’t, he would beat her more.  He hit their oldest so hard once allegedly he left finger marks on his face and scratches on his torso.

Noleen could feel Man Haron being drawn ever into the world of extremism and she saw her chance to get out and she did it.  She never turned back, as scared as she was, she felt her boys were in danger and she was done.  She put some serious boundaries in place with their children and herself.  She set up a meeting point near her new home with her family, at the Green Valley McDonalds.  Noleen set it up here so that Man Haron could take the boys inside and on the playground and she would sit in her car with her dad and could watch his every move and refused to meet him anywhere else.

Noleen was not stupid by any stretch, she was scared and let’s face it, she was on the money that her husband was fucking deranged and capable of serious harm to others.  Her meeting place was conveniently next door to the Green Valley police station.  This is the only place she would see Man Haron and for the longest time, the only place he was allowed to see the couple’s son’s.

Man Haron began to threaten Noleen, and once told her that is she did not return to the home they had once shared, and bring the boys back, he would go to the police with alleged evidence that her father had sexually assaulted one of the boys.  She called his bluff and told him to go ahead.  No such report was ever made.

On the evening of 20th of July 2011 Man Harron called Noleen Pal and forcefully insisted that she and the boys meet him at McDonalds.  Noleen was too scared of Man Haron not to go, but she took both of the boys and her parents in the car when she went to meet him.  Noleen got out of the car as Man Haron beckoned her over to him.  He was agitated and upset, threatening and paranoid.

Man Haron attempted to lure Noleen over away from her parents in the car and to a dark area of the car park.  She refused and later said that the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.  He told her he would only talk if she left her phone and handbag in the car as he said the government was harassing and following him.

Noleen basically told him to spit it out, what was so urgent she had to meet him at night.  He demanded she come back to him and bring the boys.  In the background he was almost living with his lover Amirah and yet he wanted Noleen and their sons under his control as well.  This guy wanted everything.  He believed he deserved everything.  She told him to get court orders and do things by the book.  Noleen knew about his legal trouble because of the letter writing convictions would make it difficult for Man Haron to get any more visitation.

He responded with an open threat quote from court records "If I don't get to see the boys more than I'm seeing now," he said, "I'll make sure you pay for it, even if it means I have to shoot you."

Noleen got back in her car shakily and drove home.  She didn’t leave the house for two days.  Finally her parents conviced her to go to police and tell them about the threat.  Police helped her file for an AVO, trying to get it so Man Haron could no longer come near Noleen.

These two days would be held against her in court.  Although she told the judge of the coersive control, the etreeme political views and ghe violence, her case was thrown out because well, because the system sucks.  Noleen presented to police and was assessed by them to be genuinely fightened for her life and for the lives of her children.

The lawyer defending Monis argued that if she was so scared, why wait two days to go to police.  And then they had texted back and forth between times and Noleen had not seemed angry or pissed off at Man Haron in those messages.  Yeah because every battered woman wants to piss of the man who threatened to kill you even more am I right.  The judge agreed and Magistrate Susan McGowan agreed and dismissed Noleen’s the AVO application, feeding right into Man Harron’s sense of noble justification for his awful personality.

A year later, Man Harron had moved into an apartment with Amirah, and tried to join two different charters of the Rebels outlaw motor cycle gang.  Members of both charters strung him along a little, he changed his appearance, donned leathers and the signature 1% tees and wore a bloody du rag of all things.  He took Amirah to Biker dos.  Way to romance a lady.

At this time, it seems that Man Haron was again re-inventing himself, this time as all around aussie biker. This is the fourth time we see him taking on a completely new personality. He tried to recruit a biker to kill Noleen at this time.  

Now I have in my dubious past, know some boys who wear leathers and ride together, calling each other brother.  And I know a man who was on the periphery of this social group for some time, about two years, give or take.  He had some money and wanted badly to be one of the boys and they strung him along for maybe two years, he would do all the jobs around the club no one wanted to do, I actually once saw him take on of the boys wives to a pre-natal appointment her husband didn’t want to go to, he would do the garbage, service the cars and bikes, serve drinks and pick up the tab when they went out.  This guy as it happens, just never fit in, he was just a bit of a dork and he never became part of the club.  

When he drifted away, the boys took his bike and his girlfriend left him.  It was like watching a teenage book worm try and fit in with the big boobed bleached haired cheerleaders at school.  They would let her do their homework and then pull some carrie style trick on her.  I think it was the same for Man Haron.  No one liked him, they let him hang around and pretend he was cool so he would do shit for them.  

And he told everyone he had money.  Remember he had for a long time been making hundreds of thousands of dollars in his black magic and psychic business.  When they booted him the Rebels pulled their signature you are a dork move, and took Man Haron’s motor bike.

He went back to his website and hate and began to plan how to get his children and get back at Noleen for having the audacity to leave him.

This is where we are going to leave it today folks, with this bad taste in our mouths, but I will be back next week and we will discuss some pretty awful shit to come, you know cos the anti-Semitic hate and chaining oneself to poles was not really anywhere near what destruction and grief this awful man was capable of causing, not by a long shot.

Until next time, sleep with one eye open and call the cops on all of your dodgy neighbours.