Treason charges dropped against four in Fiji; 39 charged wih munity

3:00 PM

SUVA - Prosecutors have dropped treason charges against four men alleged to have taken part in the May coup which toppled Fiji's government.

"The decision to discharge the four was made after a careful evaluation of the evidence," acting Director of Public Prosecutions Josaia Naigulevu told reporters.

Eight others, including coup leader George Speight, remained on the prison island of Nukulau, off Fiji's capital Suva, with the date for their treason trial still to be set.

On Tuesday, 39 soldiers were charged with mutiny over a November uprising at Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks in which eight soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded.

The mutineers were members of Fiji's military commando unit, which was involved in the coup.

The army's Director of Legal Service, Lt. Col. Etueni Caucau, said the 39 had been charged with mutiny and murder in connection with the uprising and would be tried in a military court.

He said mutiny carried a maximum penalty of death.

The four who had their treason charges dropped were conditionally released from Nukulau earlier yesterday but still face lesser firearms and unlawful assembly charges.

Tupeni Baba, deputy prime minister under Chaudhry, said the decision to drop the treason charges against the four men was "disgusting".

Fiji's Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo said the men, including the former head of Fiji's military intelligence Meduisela Mua, were released because there was not enough evidence to continue holding them.

The other three released were Speight's lawyer Tevita Bukarau, Eroni Lewaqai and Viliame Sausauwai.

All four will now have to appear again with the eight others at a regular fortnightly hearing on December 20, Temo said.

Hearings are held fortnightly as the maximum amount of time the men can be held or have charges held against them without going to trial is two weeks.

Speight plunged Fiji into crisis when he led nationalist gunmen into parliament on May 19, taking then Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and most of his multiracial cabinet hostage.

The nationalists wanted to limit the political power of Fiji's economically strong ethnic Indian minority.

Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian leader, was released 56 days later after a deal between the military and Speight in which a military-backed interim government was appointed.

Fiji's High Court ruled in November that the interim government was illegal.

- REUTERS and AGENCIES