Fiji 2000 coup leader George Speight receives his Presidential pardon letter on 18 September 2024. Photo: Fiji Corrections Service
Fiji's first Indo-Fijian prime minister - held hostage in George Speight's 2000 coup - says the rebel is free but there is no justice for the victims of the violent uprising.
Speight (67) and the leader of the mutineers, former army captain Shane Stevens, were among seven prisoners who were pardoned by President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere last week, following recommendations by the Mercy Commission.
Also released from jail were Sekina Vosavakatini, Nioni Tagici, Adi Livini Radininausori and John Miller. The pardon came too late for James Goundar, who died in prison earlier this month.
Speight led a racially-motivated, armed takeover of the government in May 2000 and held Mahendra Chaudhry and his government hostage for 56 days.
Chaudhry, who said he was held at gunpoint and knocked unconscious during the chaos, told RNZ Pacific that he was very concerned about the release.
"What has been done for the victims of the coup, who have been waiting 24 years for justice?
"Now that Speight is free, I hope he enlightens us as to who was really behind the coup, because he said he was just the frontman," Chaudhry said.
The 83-year old Labour Party leader said that the government should have waited until its proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission had been set up, to deal with Speight.
The Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) said in a statement on Thursday the government remained committed to the principles of justice, rehabilitation and the rule of law.
It said the Mercy Commission played a vital role in ensuring that petitions for clemency were carefully considered.
The FSC had had provided positive reports on Speight's behaviour in jail, the commission said in a statement.
"Psychological and judicial assessments were also reviewed, with the FCS supporting his reintegration into society," it said.
"The commission recommended that the President grant mercy to Mr Speight...in recognition of his rehabilitation and the length of time he has spent in prison."
Asked what he would say to Speight if they met, Chaudry said: "I would ask him, can you see what has happened to the country, after all these coups, not just yours but the one in 1987, which were all executed in the name of indigenous people.
"It has retarded our development to the point where the very people you said you were doing it for are now living in poverty.
"Some 75 per cent of those living in poverty here are indigenous, so you have done them a great disservice."
Chaudhry said trust and confidence in the government had eroded substantiallly and 80,000 people had left Fiji in the last 18 months.
"The only way to stop this exodus is to ensure we have a government in place that cares and governs in the interest of the people, not just a particular class or racial group," he said.
"Until we have the political will to deal with this, we will not have the kind of stability we need to move the country forward."
RNZ Pacific reached out to the head of Fiji's military for a response.
Colonel Ratu Jone Kalouniwai was in Hawaii on an official military visit and said via an intermediary, "no comment".
Fiji's Navy Commander, Commodore Humphrey Tawake is in charge in Kaloniwai's absence, but had his hands tied.
"We have been given specific instructions not to comment; no-one in the military is authorised to speak to the media except the Commander," Tawake said.
Fiji's assistant police commissioner for operations Livai Driu was equally tight-lipped.
"The police cannot reveal anything; we can't comment," he said.
Speight had applied for a presidential pardon under a mercy clause in June 2023, raising the possibility of his release from prison after serving more than 20 years of a life sentence].
He pleaded guilty to treason in February 2002 and was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment the same day, by the then-President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo.
Stevens was serving a life sentence for a charge of mutiny.
He was found guilty of the mutiny at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in November 2000, where several soldiers, both rebels and loyalists, lost their lives.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka - himself a coup leader - said in 2022 that a pardon for Speight would be a catastrophe and could pave the way for more coups.
However, Rabuka's pre-election campaign included a promise to release Speight, in what Chaudhry described as a bid to attract indigenous votes.