In 1996 Monis migrated to Australia as a refugee seeking
political asylum. He used a one-month business visa to gain entry to the country. He applied for a protection visa when his business visa expired, and was granted a
bridging visa while the protection visa application was assessed. He began to sexually assault women while passing himself off as a spiritual healer named 'Marcus' in the early 2000s. On 16 September 2002, Monis changed his name to Michael Hayson Mavros. Monis was investigated by the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation four times, and there were more than 40 calls to ASIO's
National Security Hotline. The family of his partner called the National Security Hotline in 2010 and were advised Monis "wasn't a threat". In 2009, in
Granville, NSW, Monis gave a lecture calling for an Islamic society and taunting foreign governments saying, "your intelligence service is not working properly." Monis lived in a flat with a housemate for six months in 1998. Monis said he was a senior member of the clergy in Iran, always locked his bedroom door, even when he went to the bathroom, and told his housemate not to bring friends over and not to answer the door if anyone knocked. Monis said that he was in "financial hardship" and borrowed $9,000, which were never repaid.
Spouses In 2003, Monis dated Amanda Morsy for about six months, telling her he was Romanian, giving her gold necklaces and driving her to dates in a
Mercedes, convertible
Peugeot and a
Jeep. Monis was unable to be contacted after 8 pm, claiming he was busy with his "spiritual consultation" business. Morsy described him as "secretive", "very reserved" and "formal" and wanting to "fit in". He broke the relationship off after her family expressed reservations about his personality. His ex-wife claimed Monis had threatened to shoot her and told her that he held a gun licence. In 2010, the family of his girlfriend, Amirah Droudis, reported Monis to the National Security Hotline because they found his behaviour strange. He was secretive with the family and always refused to have his photo taken even at Christmas. He gave them the appearance of having money and being "very generous" but vague about where he worked. They described him as "rarely forthcoming with any direct or detailed answers."
Accessory to murder charge On 21 April 2013, Monis' ex-wife's body was found stabbed 17 times and alight in a
Werrington apartment stairwell. Monis' girlfriend, Amirah Droudis, was formally charged with murder, and on 15 November 2013, Monis was charged by
NSW Police with being an
accessory before the fact and an
accessory after the fact to the murder. On 12 December 2013, Monis and Amirah appeared before
Magistrate William Pierce at
Penrith Local Court where they were granted bail. The magistrate said there were significant flaws in the Crown's case against the pair and that it was "a weak case". Prosecutor Brian Royce said Monis' claims that the
Iranian Secret Police and the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) were trying to frame him for the murder were fanciful. Magistrate Pierce said all theories needed to be examined. On 22 January 2014, Monis appeared at
Parramatta Local Court and, after informing magistrate Joan Baptie that he was representing himself, began discussing documents that he claimed were held by ASIO. He also claimed that ASIO was "conspiring against him" as they wanted him jailed. Magistrate Baptie told Monis that she had no power to order the release of documents held by ASIO and "advised him to stop talking because he would harm his defence". Monis staged a protest outside the court, following the adjournment of the case, "wearing chains and holding a sign claiming he has been tortured in custody". He was quoted as saying: "This is not a criminal case. This is a political case."
Claims of membership of Iranian Intelligence Monis told individuals in Australia, including his lawyers, that he had worked for the
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security and had knowledge about Iran's clandestine operations, and that it was for this reason he fled Iran. However, an Iranian embassy official stated Monis' claim to have worked in intelligence and security in Iran was a lie. Monis said he was the secretary of the Iranian intelligence department. After 9/11, Monis called ASIO saying he knew Iran was responsible and asked for a financial reward for the information. He also asked ASIO to pay him to work as an informant.
Allegations of fabricated cleric status Monis proclaimed himself to be a
Shia cleric. In late 2007,
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils head Ikebal Patel said no Islamic community leaders knew anything about Monis and believed he "could be a fake deliberately stirring up
anti-Islamic sentiment". On 28 January 2008, Australia's senior Shia leader and head of
Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Australia, Kamal Mousselmani, told
The Australian that Monis "was not a genuine Shia spiritual leader" and "there are no
ayatollahs in Australia." He urged Federal government officials to investigate his identity. "From the way he writes his
fatwas (or religious edicts), I don't think he is
Shia Muslim", he added.
Psychiatric assessment In 2010 Monis was
involuntarily hospitalised at
Canterbury Hospital after displaying bizarre and erratic behaviour in a parking lot in
Ashfield. A psychiatrist who assessed Monis said she believed he had chronic schizophrenia and needed to be on anti-psychotic medication. Monis stated that he had been forced to close his spiritual business, was $20,000 in debt, and had to change his name for "security reasons." Monis was treated by two different psychiatrists who didn't know about the other and he was giving them different information. He was described as "quite guarded and reluctant to disclose too much information" and refused to give his phone number and home address. He was concerned that "ASIO and police were following him... and that some people could read his mind," according to a psychologist who grew up in Iran, who diagnosed him with
obsessive-compulsive disorder. He avoided buying medication for mental illness with his
Medicare card to conceal his use of medication from authorities. One solicitor said that Monis seemed paranoid and would often speak with his hand over his mouth because he thought people "watching him" might be able to lip read. In an inquest held after Monis' death, Dr. Jonathan Phillips diagnosed him as showing mixed features of
narcissistic and
antisocial personality disorders.
Hate mail campaign Monis, together with Amirah Droudis, undertook a campaign protesting against the presence of Australian troops in
Afghanistan, by writing letters to the families of soldiers killed there, in which he called the soldiers murderers, and urged the soldiers' families to petition the government to remove its troops from Afghanistan. According to Justice
Dyson Heydon of the High Court, the letters compared "the (deceased soldier) son to a pig and to a dirty animal. It calls the son's body 'contaminated'. It refers to it as 'the dirty body of a pig'. It describes Hitler as not inferior to the son in moral merit". Monis was arrested on charges of "using a postal or similar service to menace, harass or cause offence". Droudis received a 2-year good-behaviour bond for "assisting Monis in sending the letters". She appealed the sentence, but on 12 March 2015 Droudis dropped her appeal.
Court cases On 10 November 2009, Monis appeared in court and claimed through his lawyers to be a peace activist. He later chained himself to the courthouse in protest over the charges. Monis was subsequently barred by the courts from expanding his protest to include letters to
UK soldiers' families. In an inquest, lawyer Chris Murphy said that Monis claimed to be contacting families to recruit "people who had suffered loss in war" to join his cause. Murphy said "He didn't strike me as very intelligent." Monis chained himself to the courthouse against the directions of lawyers, and Murphy said "He was entirely self absorbed with his performance ... my recollection is he held a pen in the air and said 'this is my sword'." Lawyers described Monis as a "pest" and a "dickhead". Manny Conditsis said that conversations with Monis were "draining and exhausting." Monis expressed conspiracy theories about ASIO, claiming that families of dead soldiers were not upset at his letters, but "ASIO was putting them up to it." He said "Monis was a very proud man," who cried "like a baby" in prison. Another lawyer said he always wanted to be "the centre of attention" in the media. Upon further appeal to the
High Court of Australia, the six-judge panel split 3–3 over the issue. Although the
High Court of Australia normally comprises seven judges, one seat was vacant and as yet unfilled at the time Monis's case appeared before the court. Failing to achieve a majority vote in Monis's favour, the lower court's unanimous decision was left to stand. On 12 December 2014, Monis'
appeal against his conviction for criminal use of the postal service resulted in a split decision of the High Court. The decision related to his protest against the presence of Australian troops in
Afghanistan, which he expressed by sending letters to the families of soldiers killed there in which he called the soldiers murderers and urged the families to petition the government to remove its troops from Afghanistan. One of the letters compared a dead soldier to a pig and called his body "contaminated". He sent similar letters to the families of British soldiers and the mother of a government official killed by a bombing in
Jakarta, Indonesia. Monis pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and 300 hours of
community service and banned from using the
Australian postal service. According to
The Age, this conviction consumed him for several years, and the hostage incident followed three days after an unsuccessful attempt to have the conviction overturned. Monis had been granted conditional bail because the magistrate said "there were significant flaws in the Crown's case".
Sexual assault charges Monis ran a "spiritual healing" business and promoted himself as a
clairvoyant and an expert in "
astrology,
numerology,
meditation and
black magic" services. Monis used the business to make unwelcome sexual advances toward vulnerable women, telling them that they could only receive treatment if they undressed and allowed him to massage their breasts and genitals.
Political activity Monis promoted himself as a
peace activist, and told his lawyers that his
hate-mail campaign was to make families of dead soldiers support peace. Commercial news media in Sydney often condemned Monis for making videos with his girlfriend narrating, expressing happiness about the
Holocaust and
9/11 and attacking rape victims. Monis hated
Channel Seven for their coverage of the
Muhamed Haneef affair, and ran aggressive protests outside their studios. He once rushed at television hosts
Melissa Doyle and
David Koch in
Martin Place yelling, "You are a killer and a terrorist." Monis would often put on clerical garb and chain himself to a post visible from the Channel Seven live studio, handing out pamphlets declaring there was a "
War on Islam" - leading the network to move studios when broadcasting the
Sunrise program. Following the
Haneef affair, in which a doctor was accused of aiding terrorists, Monis handed out pamphlets against
Sunrise alleging that they told "Muslim doctors" that "If you want to kill people, why not use the tools of your own trade like a plague or a disease or something?" Monis used social media to attack politicians including then Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott and former Prime Minister Rudd. His criticisms of Abbott, from 2013, related to Australia's military presence in Afghanistan. On 5 December 2014, he referred to a statement made by Rudd on changing immigration laws after Monis had been charged with seven counts of harassment. Before it was taken down, on 15 December 2014, Monis's
Facebook account had 14,000 "
likes". Monis featured a photograph of
Osama bin Laden on his website in 2008. In June 2014, Monis attended a presentation by Uthman Badar and
Wassim Doureihi of Hizb ut-Tahrir which was held in response to an earlier Uthman Badar lecture titled 'Honour Killings are Morally Justified', which was cancelled. Monis attended Hizb ut-Tahrir rallies and was described by
Sydney Morning Herald journalist Anne Davies as "a little unstable. He also seemed a little creepy. Ominously, he also told me he did not think giving speeches would be enough."
Seeking contact with ISIS In October 2014, Monis wrote a letter to
George Brandis' office seeking advice on the legality of communicating with ISIS.
Conversion to Sunni Islam Monis claimed to have converted from
Shia Islam to
Sunni Islam. An announcement on his now-suspended website, posted a week before the Sydney siege, stated: "I used to be a
Rafidi, but not any more. Now I am a Muslim,
Alhamdu Lillah." "
Rafidi", which means "one who rejects" in Arabic, "is typically used by Sunnis to denigrate Shias as non-Muslim." Monis also used his website to pledge allegiance to
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State whose 'main enemies' are the Shi'a. He was a long-time self-proclaimed
sheikh, albeit not recognised as such in the Islamic community. He was marginalised by
Australian Muslim religious authorities and mosques for his extremist views and problematic personal and criminal history. It appears he came to espouse an
extreme Islamist ideology on his own, and police and intelligence agencies have not identified any connections between Monis and international
terrorist organisations. ==The Lindt Cafe siege==