Fiji rebel leader appears before court in tears

Speight, a failed businessman, led a gang that stormed Parliament on May 19, taking the country’s first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and most of his multi-racial cabinet hostage in the name of indigenous Fijians.Chaudhry and the last of the hostages were released after eight weeks once Speight and 16 comrades struck an amnesty deal with authorities.

They were later arrested when prosecutors said their failure to return guns stolen from the military violated the immunity agreement.

Chief magistrate Salesi Temo said the treason trial against Speight could not proceed until Fiji’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, determined whether the charges were valid. The court was expected to sit on February 19.

The normally confident-looking Speight arrived at court dressed in his signature business shirt, neck tie and traditional sulu skirt, but appeared drawn as he wept and hugged his son George Speight Jr. and girlfriend Torika Rawlingson, the child’s mother.

Speight had not seen the child since being arrested on July 26 and imprisoned on Nukulau island off Suva awaiting trial.

The charge of treason carries a maximum penalty of hanging.

The Court of Appeals will also decide if the current government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, installed by the military after the coup attempt, was legal.In newspaper comments on Wednesday, Army leaders said that if the court ordered Qarase to cede power, the military would uphold the rule of law and support the installation of a “government of national unityâ€.

‘‘If the Army is unable to control the situation as a result of the response to the (court) ruling it will seek international assistance,†Army Chief of Staff Colonel Ratu George Kadavulevu told the Fiji Times.