2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax

none March 2018 January 2020 The 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax occurred when Indonesian ambassador to Australia Imron Cotan received a suspect letter addressed to him at the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, on 1 June 2005. The suspect letter later turned out to be harmless. Events The letter was opened by his personal assistant and contained white bacterial powder and a threatening message.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15481770%255E2702,00.html The Australian: 'Cowardly' attack on embassy [June 02, 2005] The Australian 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20050604035259/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15481770%255E2702,00.html 4 June 2005 dead Prime Minister John Howard made an apology to Indonesia after the incident, describing the incident as "a reckless act of indifference to human life". "Insofar as possible retaliatory action is concerned in Indonesia, there is always a danger of that," the Prime Minister said. "Just as we cannot guarantee that a random act of stupidity with an evil intent from among our 20 million people will not occur, equally I cannot expect a guarantee from the Indonesian Government that some evil act of retaliation will not occur in that country." The identity of the powder and whether it posed any health risk was initially unclear; initial testing of the powder detected traces of a "biological agent", but it was later found to be nontoxic. Approximately 50 staff members were quarantined for 12 hours. The embassy remained closed for several days following the incident. The act is suspected to be related to the Schapelle Corby trial held at the time in Bali, Indonesia.https://www.smh.com.au/national/pm-embassy-attack-makes-it-harder-for-corby-20050602-gdlfup.html PM: embassy attack makes it harder for Corby 2 June 2005 The Sydney Morning Herald Other Indonesian Diplomatic missions around Australia have reported receiving threatening emails and letters since the trial began. A bullet was sent in an envelope to the Indonesia consulate in Perth. On 3 June 2005, a section of Parliament House was sealed off when the discovery of a suspicious package delivered to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was discovered in the car park. The suspect package was taken away for analysis and no evacuations occurred. The analysis has since shown the contents to be harmless but forensic tests are continuing to establish if there are any links between this package and the earlier one sent to the Indonesian embassy.ABC News items August 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Various news reports, including those from SBS have reported that the enclosed letter was written in Indonesian, with a high degree of competence. However, this has been contradicted in other reports, see links below. See also Bioterrorism References Sources Death delivered in a poison letter news.com.au http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15482171-2,00.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20050604032116/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15482171-2,00.html 4 June 2005 Embassy parcel 'was no threat' news.com.au http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C15485268-2%2C00.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20050604022426/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C15485268-2%2C00.html 4 June 2005 Letter did not name Schapelle news.com.au http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15494507-31317,00.html dead https://archive.today/20070728091913/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15494507-31317,00.html 28 July 2007 Embassies secured amid payback fear news.com.au http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15492962-31317,00.htmlOctober 2026 medicmedic Embassy returned to normal after scare The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15502244%255E2702,00.htmlMarch 2025 medicmedic Notes 35.303932 S 149.116553 E dms title Category:2005 crimes in Australia Category:2000s in Canberra Category:Australia–Indonesia relations Category:Hoaxes in Australia Category:2005 hoaxes Category:Attacks on diplomatic missions in Australia Category:Terrorist incidents in Australia in the 2000s Category:Terrorist incidents in Oceania in 2005