SUVA, Fiji (21 Feb 2002) -- Fiji coup leader, George Speight, broke down and wept after being sentenced to hang for treason. "George Speight," Justice Scott said, wearing a black silk cloth on his wig, "the sentence of the court upon you is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution and that you there suffer death by hanging and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul." Speight's lawyers say they expect Fiji's president Ratu Josefa Iloilo to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment. Prosecutors and defence lawyers have both requested the judge recommend the move. In 1967 Fiji abolished the death penalty for murder but retained it for treason and piracy. As part of Speight's guilty plea, prosecutors separated his case from those of his 12 co-conspirators. After Speight was sentenced, defence lawyers said the other 12 coup plotters were expected to have their treason charges reduced. It is not clear what charges they will now face. | | Racist rebel leader George Speight sentenced to death. After Speight and his armed followers stormed parliament in May 2000, Fiji plunged into political turmoil, economic crisis and racial violence that swept across the island nation. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
