Shers’ hate mailer behind bars
The jailing of Amirah Droudis for murdering the ex-wife of Lindt Cafe gunman Man Haron Monis has closed a chapter for the family of fallen digger Greg Sher.
THE jailing of Amirah Droudis for murdering the ex-wife of Lindt Cafe gunman Man Haron Monis has closed a chapter for the family of fallen digger Greg Sher.
The Sydney woman was sentenced on February 1 in the NSW Supreme Court to 44 years’ prison, with a non-parole period of 33 years – but the emotional scars she inflicted on a Jewish family will never be erased.
Felix and Yvonne Sher of Melbourne were among 11 Australian families of deceased Australian Defence Force personnel that received hate mail from Monis between 2007 and 2009.
Two copies of a toxic letter, signed by Monis, arrived while the Shers were sitting Shiva – about three days after they received news that Private Sher, 30, had been killed in a rocket attack in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province in January 2009.
The letter stated in part: “Some Jews who blame Hitler for violations of human rights are not much better than him” and “Some people don’t eat the meat of pig but they are dirtier than pig … why should we call a pig a hero … why should we respect the contaminated body of an Australian soldier who has murdered innocent civilians?”
Private Sher’s father Felix reflected this week that Droudis “got what she deserved [for the murder], that’s the bottom line”.
“She was an accessory to the letters, she was an active participant, it was her that actually phoned us,” he told The AJN, describing a phone call in which Droudis said she was sending the Shers a letter, which the family thought would be condolences, rather than “the awful letter” that was mailed, with a copy hand-delivered.
In 2011, Droudis, Monis’ partner, who converted to Islam, was charged along with Monis for writing letters to family members of Australian soldiers who have been killed, to “menace, harass or cause offence”.
She also appeared in videos with Monis, extolling Osama Bin Laden, and praising the Holocaust, the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal convicted Droudis on eight counts of aiding and abetting Monis in writing the letters. Monis was sentenced to 300 hours’ community service but Droudis was only placed on a two-year bond.
The High Court later split 3-3 on whether to uphold an appeal by Monis and Droudis, but the tie meant the conviction stood.
However, the discovery of the charred remains of Monis’ ex-wife with multiple stab wounds in 2013 culminated in last week’s sentencing of Droudis in the NSW Supreme Court.
Iranian-born Monis was killed in December 2014 when police ended a horrific 16-hour siege he staged at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place, during which two of his 18 hostages died.
Hostages were forced to display a jihadist flag during the siege.
PETER KOHN
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