March 24, 2009
THE wild brawl between bikies at Australia’s biggest airport in which a man was bludgeoned to death had started with pushing and shoving 15 minutes earlier in view of security officers, raising serious questions over the adequacy of airport security.
Yesterday the Federal Government ducked calls for an inquiry into security arrangements despite court evidence that the fight began about 1.30pm on Sunday and ended when Anthony Zervas, 29, was bashed to death on the Sydney Airport floor at 1.45pm.
Liberal senator Bill Heffernan called for an urgent Senate inquiry into the savage confrontation between members of the Hells Angels and Comancheros.
"It doesn’t say much for the millions of dollars we have spent on airport security," Senator Heffernan said on ABC radio.
He said the public wanted to know how airport security could stop a major terrorist attack if it was not able to prevent a man being killed in public.
Horrified passengers, friends and relatives saw the man’s head beaten in as he lay crumpled on the terminal floor.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull called for an emergency meeting of state, territory and Commonwealth attorneys-general to discuss a national strategy for gang crime and to consider airport security.
"Yesterday’s brutal murder … is a gruesome wake-up call to this national crime problem which shows no regard for state borders," he said.
"And the fact it could occur in our busiest airport, where security is paramount, is of major concern. The public are right to be alarmed."
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty defended the police involved and denied they had been slow to react. He said the first triple-0 call came in at 1.43pm and police responded a minute later.
But it emerged yesterday that security officers helped break up an initial melee and yet the fight was still able to develop until Mr Zervas, the brother of a Hell’s Angel, was killed.
It is understood that private security officers at the airport are not able to contact their federal police counterparts directly but must radio their head office, which in turn notifies the police.
"Given that this is supposed to be one of the most heavily guarded secure areas, the response after the attack was just startling in its inadequacy," one witness said.
While no arrests were made at the airport, four men who fled in taxis were arrested soon afterwards. Later, Ismail Erdem, 25, Maher Aouli, 22, Pomare Pirini, 21, and Zoran Kisacanin, 22, were charged with affray.
None of the men applied for bail, although their lawyer told the court that police had yet to view security camera footage of the incident, which was clear enough to make an identification. A police source said the CCTV systems at the Sydney terminal had been "older than expected" and staff were working to download additional footage.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann said he had briefed his NSW counterpart on his state’s tough anti-gang legislation and urged other states to follow suit.
Mr Turnbull supported Mr Rann’s call for special legislation to outlaw criminal gangs. He said the Crime Commission’s Outlaw Motorcycle Gang National Intelligence Task Force was disbanded last June and must be reinstated immediately.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said he had sought a report from the Australian Federal Police, which has primary responsibility for maintaining security at the airport, in conjunction with state police.
He said the public was entitled to expect that Australia had the security capability at its airports "to ensure that an event such as this doesn’t occur … whether it’s from base criminal activity or whether it’s counter-terrorism activity".
With SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AAP
— this is gonna be a discussion for some classmates.. so if u think it is then tell me why, if not.. explain..
thanks so much.
Related Articles
- yourscoops.com » Blog Archive » Australian art prize judged by a cockatoo
- Victoria in the Country » Blog Archive » Locking up food
- Forum4Finance | Annual fee of Rs 15,000 for National Permit per Truck
Yes is it a failure of security system that they let this happen.
Airport security guards who were on the scene might or might not be blamed, b/c
– it could be that they are not armed, and are required to call in actual police to deal with serious cases. I know mall security operates that way (there’s a comedy about them called Observe and Report).
– it could be that they did not have enough people to physically restrain all the bikers, and concentrated on keeping innocent bystanders out the biker’s way