Fiji abolished the death penalty for treason and piracy in February 2002

Fiji abolished the death penalty for treason and piracy in February 2002, a legislative move signed into law by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda on March 11, 2002. Fiji had scrapped capital punishment for most crimes in 1967, and for murder in 1979. In June 2002, Home Affairs Minister Joketani Cokanasiga said that government intended to remove the death penalty from the Military Act. The last execution took place in 1964, before the country became independent in 1970.