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Fiji High Court sentences 8 for attempted assassination of military leader

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Fiji High Court sentenced eight men to prison terms ranging from three to seven years for plotting the assassination of the leader of the country's military government on Friday. The sentencing judge, Justice Paul Madigan chastised the men for their greed and racial motivations in the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Commodore Josaia Voreqe Frank Bainimarama, in 2007. The court described the plot as involving the assassination of Bainimarama, the removal of the president and the Indo-Fijians, and the declaration of martial law, during which the plot leaders would request assistance from New Zealand and Australia. The two longest sentences were given to Chief Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, a leader of Naitasiri province, and former Pacific Connex employee Sivaniolo Naulago, who both received seven years. The others convicted were former soldiers Barbados Mills, who received six-and-a-half years, Feoko Gadikibau, who was sentenced to five-and-a-half years, Kaminieli Vosavere, who was sentenced to four years, Eparama Waqatairewa and Pauliasi Ramulo, who were each sentenced to three years, and former head of Fiji Military Intelligence Metuisela Mua, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. The men were initially arrested and charged with the plot in 2007, eleven months after the 2006 military coup. Five of those sentenced Friday were part of a military unit that had mutinied against Bainimarama in 2000. The Commonwealth of Nations suspended Fiji from its organization in September because it failed to meet the September 1 deadline for reinstating a constitutional democracy and opening a national dialogue. The Pacific Islands Forum suspended Fiji's membership in the 16-nation bloc in May after Fiji's current military government failed to meet a May 1 deadline to schedule elections. Bainimarama announced plans in July to establish a new constitution by September 2013. Bainimarama said that the new constitution would be in place at least one year prior to the elections planned for September 2014. In April, former president Ratu Josefa Iloilo suspended the constitution and revoked the appointment of all judicial officers after a ruling from the Fiji Court of Appeal declaring the appointment of the military government following the 2006 coup unconstitutional. Bainimarama took control in the wake of the coup, which ousted former Fijian prime minister Laisenia Qarase.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 06, 2010 (boomark / email).