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DATE=8/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=FIJI / TREASON  (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265841
BYLINE=PHIL MERCER
DATELINE=SYDNEY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Fiji, lawyers for jailed coup leader George 
Speight have asked judges to dismiss treason charges 
filed against him and sixteen of his associates.  Mr. 
Speight led an armed gang of nationalist rebels which 
deposed the democratic government of Mahendra Chaudhry 
in May. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
TEXT:  George Speight's lawyers say the charges 
against him amount to an abuse of power by the 
authorities and have called for his release from 
prison.  They insist an amnesty granted to the rebels 
still stands and there are no grounds for them to face 
trial for treason. 
Military authorities in Fiji say the terms of the 
immunity deal were breached when the rebels failed to 
hand back all the weapons stolen from the army and 
used in the uprising. 
Mr. Speight and hundreds of his supporters were 
arrested in a nationwide crackdown by the armed 
forces. He has been held on the prison island of 
Nukulau - three kilometers from the capital Suva. 
After a brief appearance in court Friday, the chief 
magistrate Salesi Temo adjourned the hearing for 10 
days.  At that time he is expected to give a final 
decision as to whether a treason trial can go ahead.   
Mr. Speight - who's been charged under his Fijian name 
of Ilikini Naitini - is accused of `intending to wage 
war' on the former president, Ratu Mara, and of using 
armed force to overthrow the country's legitimate 
government. If convicted, Mr. Speight could get the 
death penalty. 
The country's constitutional crisis began on the 19th 
of May, when Speight gunmen stormed the Parliament, 
hijacking Mahendra Chaudhry's government.  The rebels 
claimed they were acting to defend indigenous Fijian 
rights, which they said had been undermined by Mr. 
Chaudhry - the country's first ethnic Indian Prime 
Minister. (signed)
NEB/HK/PM/JO/KBK
25-Aug-2000 03:39 AM EDT (25-Aug-2000 0739 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.