Fiji: Coup leader unrepentant

Fijian coup leader George Speight remained unrepentant at toppling the Pacific nation’s first ethnic Indian prime minister, as he started a life sentence for treason.

In comments published in the Fiji Sun newspaper, Speight defended his May 2000 armed coup as an attempt to tip the balance of power in the country back toward ethnic Fijians.

In a move that shocked many observers, Speight pleaded guilty to treason on in Fiji’s High Court and was sentenced to hang.

But hours later, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. He is likely to serve about 10 years in a rundown prison on the outskirts of the capital, Suva.