Sydney Hilton bombing
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The Sydney Hilton bombing occurred on 13 February, 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia. At the time the hotel was the site of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), see Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, a regional off-shoot of the biennial meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.
The bombing
The bomb, planted in a rubbish bin, exploded when the bin was emptied into a garbage truck outside the hotel at 1:40am. It killed two garbagemen and a policeman guarding the entrance to the hotel lounge died later. It also injured eleven others. Twelve foreign leaders were staying in the hotel at the time, but none were injured. Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser immediately called out the army to guard the remainder of the CHOGRM meeting [link].
Although the bombing has been described as a terrorist act, there is no consensus concerning who perpetrated it.
Inquiries, Trials and Royal Commission
The bombing played a role in the 1978 arrest of three members of the social and spiritual organisation Ananda Marga – Tim Anderson, Ross Dunn and Paul Alister – on charges of conspiracy to murder the Sydney leader of the National Front, which the prosecution associated with the Sydney Hilton bombing. A Royal Commission, headed by Justice Hope the Royal Commissioner, was established into the conviction of the Ananda Margis, and eventually recommended their pardon, but did not cover the Hilton Bombing. They were pardoned and released in 1985. Thereafter, Anderson was arrested for the Sydney Hilton bombing, but this time he was acquitted in 1991 after the evidence of the main prosecution witness, Evan Pederick, was completely rejected by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal. [link] Paradoxically, Pederick, now having served his relatively short sentence, remains the only person convicted of the Hilton Hotel Bombing even though his evidence has been roundly rejected. Even former prime minister Malcolm Fraser felt compelled to point out the serious flaws in Pederick's claims. Pederick pleaded guilty to the crime and was quickly convicted without detailed scrutiny of his confession.
Until 1989, when Evan Pederick came forward, no one actually claimed responsibility for the bombing and there is still controversy over whether the true perpetrators have yet to be discovered.
Speculation and conspiracy theories
The Indian prime minister Morarji Desai claimed that Ananda Marga had attempted to kill him due to the imprisonment of the organisation's spiritual leader, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. This has been alleged by some as a motive for framing the Ananda Marga Three.
However, there has been controversy about the motives of the bomb and the handling of the case that surrounded it. Terry Griffiths, a former policeman who was seriously injured in the bombing, has claimed that the bombing was somehow a conspiracy and called for an inquiry. G Barry Hall QC, counsel for Griffiths, argued that ASIO may well have planted the bomb in order to justify their existence. The Hon Peter Collins, the NSW Liberal Attorney-General led a campaign to demand a joint State-Federal inquiry which culminated in a unanimous resolution by both houses of the NSW parliament - only the second time in the history of the state that such a resolution had been adopted. The Federal government vetoed any inquiry.
Political effects and significance
The episode is generally erroneously regarded as the first and only domestic terrorist event to hit Australia's shores and had a profound impact on the nation (erroneous because terrorism struck Australia earlier when a series of bombings in Sydney and Melbourne stretching from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, of Yugoslav businesses by Croatian extremists, claimed more lives and did more damage). It highlighted the corruption which blighted the New South Wales Police Force and resulted in mounting pressure on the Commonwealth for increased support for the anti-terrorism activities of the intelligence services.
See also
References and further reading
- Conspiracy: Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary, Daryl Dellora, [Film Art Doco Pty Ltd]1995 (shown on True Stories series). Reviews most of the evidence. Easily available articles reviewing the documentary include:-
- [Wilsons Almanac] Detailed article into the bombing and associated events, including the special branch enquiries.
- http://members.tripod.com/hilton_bombing/index.html
- The Sydney Morning Herald, "The path of bliss...", Ben Hills, October 25, 1990. Discusses pardon of the Ananda Marga three. Also reviews the relationship between their trial and the Hilton bombing.
- [NSW Hansard 21 Sep 95] Call for Hilton Hotel bombing enquiry. Speech by Mr Tink, ex Attorney General, complaining of changes to publicly available documents, amongst other things.
- [Inspector General of Security (IGIS) 1992/3 report] Confirms that ASIO had been monitoring Ananda Marga. Questions whether they could have prevented the bombing.
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