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 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a biennial meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.
The bombing
The bomb, planted in a rubbish bin, exploded in a garbage truck outside the hotel at 1:40am. It killed two garbagemen and a policeman guarding the entrance to the hotel lounge. It also injured several others. Several 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 CHOGM meeting [1].
Although the bombing has been described as a terrorist act, there is no consensus concerning who perpetrated it.
Inquiries and Royal Commission
The bombing played a role in the 1982 trial and conviction of three members of the Ananda Marga sect – Tim Anderson, Ross Dunn and Paul Alister – on charges of an attempted assassination, which the prosecution associated with the Sydney Hilton bombing. They were pardoned and released in 1988. Thereafter, Anderson was arrested for the Sydney Hilton bombing, but he was pardoned and released in 1989. [2]
A Royal Commission, headed by Justice Hope the Royal Commissioner, was established.
No one actually claimed responsibility for the terrorist act and there is controversy over whether the true perpetrators have yet to be discovered.
Speculation and conspiracy theories
Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
