1995 bombing of the French Consulate in Perth, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
On 17 June 1995, the French
Consulate in West Perth
, Western Australia
was firebombed and destroyed in the only act in the history of Western Australia
regarded as politically motivated terrorism
. It is also the most recent such act on Australia
n soil, although it is postdated by the 1999 occupation of the Greek
Consulate-General in Sydney
by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party
in protest at the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
, which is not regarded as a terrorist act; and by the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta
, Indonesia
.
, in a converted single-storey Federation-style
house, about 90 years old with brick walls and a largely timber interior. Fire services
responded within four minutes and the fire took one hour to completely extinguish. The building was destroyed, and there were no injuries. The site was investigated by detectives from the arson
squad, with damage estimated at A$300,000 by fire services.
Some suspected the firebombing was linked to France's decision to resume nuclear testing
on Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
, announced by President Jacques Chirac
on Tuesday that week. Police chief superintendent Fred Zagami said police had taken "pro-active security steps in regard to the French consulate" on Wednesday, and nearly 100 people attended a peaceful demonstration
outside the consulate on Friday. Honorary French consul Dr Robert Pearce, a plastic surgeon whose consulting rooms and patient records were housed in the consulate, told the media he believed the fire was a protest against nuclear testing.
The French embassy in Canberra
described the fire as "a series of criminal explosions" and "an unjustifiable criminal act which could have had tragic consequences". Australian Prime Minister
Paul Keating
said "if it is proved that this action is a violent protest against the resumption of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, it must be condemned for the extreme form it has taken", and intentional destruction of property was "not part of the Australian way of life and must be rejected on every occasion." Bob McMullan
, Australia's Acting Foreign Minister
, advised the media to show restraint and discourage "copy-cat incidents". Western Australia's Premier
, Richard Court
, said the fire was "an act of terrorism which we don't accept in this country".
Later that day, a group named the Pacific Popular Front claimed responsibility for the fire. Sergeant Chris Ferris, the WA Police media liaison officer, said that a male telephoned all newspapers and television stations in Perth and SBS
in Sydney and read them a message. SBS reporter Jane Willcox said the caller told them, "The Pacific Popular Front is claiming responsibility for fire-bombing the French embassy [sic]. It was an attack on their belligerence." Sergeant Ferris said the police force had not previously heard of the Pacific Popular Front.
one of the phone calls made to reporters to a house in Victoria Park
. Police said the two friends acted alone, unconnected to the anti-nuclear movement, and the Pacific Popular Front did not exist.
Boscovich, a Zimbabwe
an-born Australian citizen and Curtin University student formerly known as Michael Joseph Keenan, pleaded guilty on 21 July 1995 to arson, and was sentenced on 28 August 1995 to three years jail with eligibility for parole. The fire was started when two Molotov cocktail
s, made using glass wine bottles, cloth and $1.25 worth of petrol, were thrown through two of the building's windows. Judge Antoinette Kennedy said Boscovich wanted to make the French aware of opposition to their nuclear testing, but he did not expect to cause so much damage, estimated at $256,000.
Catts, an unemployed dual Australian-Israeli citizen, pleaded guilty to wilful and unlawful damage on 3 November 1995. On 1 December 1995, she was sentenced to 12 months, which was doubled on appeal on 20 March 1996 to two years jail.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Consulate in West Perth
West Perth, Western Australia
West Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is part of the inner mixed zone, and has predominantly office blocks which have displaced residential buildings. There is a high proportion of miners and consultants, and particularly medical specialists, compared to...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
was firebombed and destroyed in the only act in the history of Western Australia
History of Western Australia
The human history of Western Australia commenced between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago with the arrival of Indigenous Australians on the north-west coast. The first inhabitants expanded the range of their settlement to the east and south of the continent. The first recorded European contact was in...
regarded as politically motivated terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. It is also the most recent such act on Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n soil, although it is postdated by the 1999 occupation of the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Consulate-General in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...
in protest at the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan , Kurdish founder of the terrorist organization called Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978.Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs...
, which is not regarded as a terrorist act; and by the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Details
Around 4:40am Saturday morning, 17 June 1995, neighbours called emergency services to report hearing explosions at the French consulate. The consulate was located in West PerthWest Perth, Western Australia
West Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is part of the inner mixed zone, and has predominantly office blocks which have displaced residential buildings. There is a high proportion of miners and consultants, and particularly medical specialists, compared to...
, in a converted single-storey Federation-style
Federation architecture
Federation architecture refers to the architectural style in Australia, which was prevalent from around 1890 to 1920. The period refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia...
house, about 90 years old with brick walls and a largely timber interior. Fire services
Fire Services
Fire Services is a Hong Kong football team. The majority of the players are working for the Fire Services Department in Hong Kong and playing for the club on an amateur basis.-Honours:* Hong Kong Viceroy Cup** Runners-up : 1969–70...
responded within four minutes and the fire took one hour to completely extinguish. The building was destroyed, and there were no injuries. The site was investigated by detectives from the arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
squad, with damage estimated at A$300,000 by fire services.
Some suspected the firebombing was linked to France's decision to resume nuclear testing
France and weapons of mass destruction
France is known to have an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently...
on Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, announced by President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
on Tuesday that week. Police chief superintendent Fred Zagami said police had taken "pro-active security steps in regard to the French consulate" on Wednesday, and nearly 100 people attended a peaceful demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
outside the consulate on Friday. Honorary French consul Dr Robert Pearce, a plastic surgeon whose consulting rooms and patient records were housed in the consulate, told the media he believed the fire was a protest against nuclear testing.
"We have to accept that in a democracy Australians have as much right as people in other parts of the world to demonstrate, but they shouldn't demonstrate by damaging or destroying other people's life. And this to me is an attack, a personal attack, as much as an attack on something that represents another sovereign state." - Honorary French consul Robert Pearce, 17 June 1995.
The French embassy in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
described the fire as "a series of criminal explosions" and "an unjustifiable criminal act which could have had tragic consequences". Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
said "if it is proved that this action is a violent protest against the resumption of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, it must be condemned for the extreme form it has taken", and intentional destruction of property was "not part of the Australian way of life and must be rejected on every occasion." Bob McMullan
Bob McMullan
Robert Francis McMullan is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives....
, Australia's Acting Foreign Minister
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)
In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister...
, advised the media to show restraint and discourage "copy-cat incidents". Western Australia's Premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, Richard Court
Richard Court
Richard Fairfax Court AC , was a Western Australian politician, representing the seat of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1982 to 2001. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001.Court was born into an old political...
, said the fire was "an act of terrorism which we don't accept in this country".
Later that day, a group named the Pacific Popular Front claimed responsibility for the fire. Sergeant Chris Ferris, the WA Police media liaison officer, said that a male telephoned all newspapers and television stations in Perth and SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
in Sydney and read them a message. SBS reporter Jane Willcox said the caller told them, "The Pacific Popular Front is claiming responsibility for fire-bombing the French embassy [sic]. It was an attack on their belligerence." Sergeant Ferris said the police force had not previously heard of the Pacific Popular Front.
Arrests
On 4 July 1995, 20-year-old Bosco Boscovich and 21-year-old Maya Catts were arrested and charged with causing "damage by fire", after allegedly starting the fire with two Molotov cocktails. Police tracedCall tracing
In telecommunication, call tracing is a procedure that permits an entitled user to be informed about the routing of data for an established connection, identifying the entire route from the origin to the destination....
one of the phone calls made to reporters to a house in Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Western Australia
The Town of Victoria Park is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of 17.62 km² in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The Town of Victoria Park maintains 154.55 km of roads, a little over 1 km² of parks and gardens and has a...
. Police said the two friends acted alone, unconnected to the anti-nuclear movement, and the Pacific Popular Front did not exist.
Boscovich, a Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an-born Australian citizen and Curtin University student formerly known as Michael Joseph Keenan, pleaded guilty on 21 July 1995 to arson, and was sentenced on 28 August 1995 to three years jail with eligibility for parole. The fire was started when two Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s, made using glass wine bottles, cloth and $1.25 worth of petrol, were thrown through two of the building's windows. Judge Antoinette Kennedy said Boscovich wanted to make the French aware of opposition to their nuclear testing, but he did not expect to cause so much damage, estimated at $256,000.
Catts, an unemployed dual Australian-Israeli citizen, pleaded guilty to wilful and unlawful damage on 3 November 1995. On 1 December 1995, she was sentenced to 12 months, which was doubled on appeal on 20 March 1996 to two years jail.
Further reading
- (1995) French Consulate - consulate bombed 17 June 1995, the Hon. French Consul Robert Pearce loses everything Sunday Times (Perth, W.A.), 18 June 1995, p. 1,
- Starling, Shane. (1997) When childhood ends : interview with Bosco Boscovich. Interview with bomber of the French Embassy in West Perth in June 1995 after his release from prison. Kulchah, No. 2, 1997, p. 20-22