Attorney General Qoriniasi Bale admitted that the removal...

Attorney General Qoriniasi Bale admitted that the removal of the death penalty is intended to cover the impending trial of George Speight and others now on remand on Nukulau Island on charges of treason. But he said this was because the government did not support the taking of anyone's life, including George Speight's or anyone else's, as punishment for any offence a person is convicted of.
"The proposal is about government's belief that the death penalty, which is the taking of one's life, should no longer be a penalty for any offence in Fiji," he said
"Government opposes the death penalty in all cases because it is the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment for human beings and violates the right to life," he said.
Prominent Suva lawyer Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi said that people were questioning the timing of the removal of the death penalty. However he said it was legal to remove it and if the attorney general wanted it removed, he was at liberty to do it since it is in his jurisdiction.