Failed coup leader George Speight is free from jail — leaving Fiji grappling with its history of ‘coup culture’

It was a failed coup that unleashed nearly two years of violent turmoil in Fiji — events that brought suffering still deeply felt by victims.

Former businessman George Speight stormed the nation’s parliament in May 2000 with an Indigenous nationalist group, holding the prime minister and cabinet members hostage for 56 days.

And this week, the violence and uncertainty that followed the attempted coup rushed back to the spotlight in Fiji after Speight’s release from jail last Thursday.

He walked free more than 24 years after those events, receiving a pardon from the president, on the recommendation of Fiji’s Mercy Commission.

It’s a decision that has raised apprehensions among the Indo-Fijian community, which suffered violence after the 2000 coup.

While the Fijian government is trying to calm their concerns and says Speight no longer poses a threat, the timing of his release has attracted criticism — including from Mahendra Chaudhry, the prime minister held hostage in the coup.

“Any moves to free those guilty of treason and such horrendous crimes against humanity should first have been preceded by efforts to provide justice and a sense of reconciliation to these innocent victims of the coup,” Mr Chaudhry said in a statement.

Speight also faces pressure to reveal who else was involved in the failed coup.

And one of the loudest voices calling for him to reveal more is Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who this week said he was a “victim” of Speight’s silence about the events of 2000.

Fiji’s ‘coup culture’

Speight leaves jail having initially received a death sentence in 2002 for his actions — a punishment immediately commuted to life in jail.

The failed coup leader spent more than 20 years in jail for treason.

But last week, Speight was among seven people to receive pardons by President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere following the Mercy Commission’s recommendation.

In a statement, the Mercy Commission said the Fiji Corrections Service had given positive reports on Speight’s behaviour.

His release has left Fiji grappling once again with its turbulent history of “coup culture”.

There have been four coups since the 1980s, each linked in some way with ethnic tension between Indigenous iTaukei Fijians and Fijians of South Asian descent.

Fiji’s current prime minister Mr Rabuka led the first coup in May 1987 — one month after a coalition of the newly formed Fiji Labour Party and the older National Federation Party, led by Timoci Bavadra, narrowly won the general election.

“That government had been elected largely on the basis of Fijian Indian votes,” said Jon Fraenkel, an expert in Fijian politics from the Victoria University of Wellington.

The parties had strong ties to areas where Indo-Fijians lived and worked.

The military, almost exclusively made up of Indigenous iTaukei Fijians, overthrew the government without anyone dying.

A constitutional review committee was established, and its terms of reference reveal the reasons behind this coup: “[to] strengthen the representation of Indigenous Fijians and in so doing bear in mind the best interests of other peoples in Fiji.”

Mr Rabuka led a second coup in September 1987, deposing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and declaring Fiji a republic.

Fiji’s third coup, led by Speight, was launched in 2000, a year after Mahendra Chaudhry had become the country’s first Indo-Fijian prime minister.

“Again, it was pretty quickly after the election of a government that depended mostly on the votes of Fijian Indians,” Professor Fraenkel said.

The fourth coup, which happened six years later when Frank Bainimarama seized power in 2006, was also linked to ethnic tensions.

A government held hostage

Speight and the others involved in the 2000 coup had sought to return political power to Indigenous Fijians.

He wanted Adi Samanunu Cakobau, a female high chief and ambassador to Malaysia, installed as prime minister, rather than Mr Chaudhry.

And in a bid to make their plans reality, Speight stormed parliament on May 19, 2000, leading an Indigenous nationalist group that included special forces soldiers and his younger brother Jim.

Mr Chaudhry and all but one of his cabinet were among the hostages taken by Speight’s group and held captive for almost two months.

“Indian and expatriate members of the former government were kept hostage under appalling conditions and under constant threat of losing their lives,” the lead prosecutor in Speight’s eventual trial, Mark Tedeschi KC, wrote.

He said a “catastrophic massacre” could have been easily triggered during the stand-off.

“The Speight group with their hostages and the large, protective group of civilian supporters around them could have gone on a killing spree on the slightest pretext or misunderstanding,” Mr Tedeschi wrote.

“That this didn’t happen is a great tribute to the military personnel at the parliament and their commanders.”

During the crisis, at least one soldier was killed. 

Law and order broke down across the country.

Mr Tedeschi said members of the Indo-Fijian community were targeted in rape, assault and arson attacks.

“Makeshift roadblocks manned by self-appointed vigilantes suddenly appeared around the country,” he wrote.

The Fiji Military Forces eventually took power, declared martial law and installed an interim prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, who a year later won the post in a democratic election.

But the failed coup attempt had led to almost two years of political chaos and sporadic violence driven by ethnic tension.

Nabbed at checkpoint for violating amnesty

In late July 2000, Speight was arrested at a military checkpoint along with his legal adviser Tevita Bukarau, his spokesman Jo Nata and a bodyguard.

Shots were fired, but there were no injuries reported.

Speight and his group were later hauled off to a military barracks.

About a fortnight earlier, Speight and his supporters had been granted an amnesty for releasing the last of their 27 hostages.

But it was conditional on the rebels turning in their arms.

“Mr Speight goes around with armed bodyguards … that is illegal,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said at the time.

He said Speight was arrested because of “allegations brought to us about the carriage of arms in and around Suva by George Speight and his bodyguards and also threats to the head of state”.

Speight was detained on Nukulau Island with his accomplices while they awaited trial.

During the wait, Speight was in 2001 elected to parliament for the Conservative Alliance, but being unable to attend while in custody he was kicked out.

His brother then won the seat.

At the start of his trial in February 2002, Speight pleaded guilty to treason and was initially sentenced to death by hanging, as was required under Fijian law for those convicted of treason.

Then-president Ratu Josefa Iloilo commuted Speight’s sentence to life in jail on the same day.

The Fiji parliament then passed an amendment to the Criminal Code removing capital punishment for treason.

Professor Fraenkel was in the courtroom as the sentence was handed down.

“A shadow fell across the courtroom, it was quite shocking in a normally fairly relaxed kind of society like Fiji,” he said.

‘Tell the truth’

After he walked free last week, Speight’s family said he didn’t plan to speak publicly any time soon.

But his release from jail is a talking point across the country.

And while many in Fiji believe he served enough time in prison, and support his release, some members of the Indo-Fijian community are apprehensive.

Fiji’s government has tried quelling concerns, with Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua saying this week that Speight posed no threat.

“I am reassuring our Fijian public, particularly those who have concerns, that their safety and their security is assured,” he said.

“Law and order is secure … We’ve come a long way since 2000.

“You hear of reconciliation and good spirit hanging in the air, particularly through our most important institutions.”

The government plans to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to help heal societal wounds from Fiji’s coups and allow the nation to come to terms with its turbulent history.

“Speight’s release ahead of a truth and reconciliation process must be anathema to those who suffered as it has reopened the outrage of 2000 without the healing that should have preceded it,” said Mr Chaudhry, the former prime minister held during the coup.

There are also calls for Speight to reveal who else was involved in his failed coup.

Among those pressing him is Mr Rabuka, who said Speight should “tell the truth” and make it clear he had no role in the 2000 coup.

“[People involved in the coup] have not told what they know about my non-involvement.”

Mr Chaudhry told the ABC that the truth and reconciliation commission needed to help bring about a “fair closure” to the events that followed the 2000 coup attempt.

“If the recommendations are not accepted, or if the report is not seen as doing justice, then I’m afraid the problem will continue. 

“The dissatisfaction will still be there.”