The Suspected Sydney Hostage Taker Is A 'Spiritual Healer' With A Long Rap Sheet

SheikhHaron.comMan Haron Monis

Police in Sydney, Australia have confirmed the gunman who took hostages in a cafe in the city's central business district is Man Haron Monis, a self-styled "Muslim cleric and peace activist."

Monis, who as of Monday morning has been involved in a standoff with law enforcement at the cafe for over 12 hours, is currently on bail after being charged with serving as an accessory in the murder his ex-wife last April. Another man named Amirah Droudis, who has worked with Monis, was charged with killing the woman. She was stabbed and set on fire in the stairwell of an apartment. Monis has said the case is the result of a conspiracy against him by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

"This is not a criminal case. This is a political case," he said after a court case in January.

On his website, Monis, who uses the name "Sheikh Haron" describes his anger over airstrikes against the jihadist group Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The strikes have been carried out by a coalition that includes forces from both the US and Australia. 

His ex-wife's murder was not Monis' first brush with the law. In April, he was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault in conjunction with a 2002 incident where a woman who visited him for a "spiritual consultation" said she was sexually assaulted at his office. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Monis had placed advertisements in a local newspaper touting his expertise in "astrology, numerology, meditation and black magic."  

Monis also attracted the attention of authorities for a campaign he and Droudis mounted to send letters to the families of Australia soldiers who died in Afghanistan. Last year, the Associated Press reported Monis was charged with "12 counts of using a postal service in an offensive way and one count of using a postal service in a harassing way" for the letters, which criticized Australia's involvement in the war in Afghanistan and compared the soldiers to Nazis. 

In a statement released on his site in October, Monis, who used a sawed off shotgun to take 15 hostages in the cafe, also claims to be against violence.

"Islam is the religion of peace and a Muslim should be a peace activist. Islam is against oppression and any unfair violence. Islam is against terrorism. As I have repeatedly said earlier: 'this pen is my gun and these words are my bullets, I fight by these weapons against oppression to promote peace,'" said Monis. 

 

More details to come.