Fiji nationalist rebel leader George Speight was charged...

Fiji nationalist rebel leader George Speight was charged with treason because of his involvement in the May 19 coup. He was accused in the Suva Magistrates Court of intending "to levy war against His Excellency the President of Fiji Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara in order to put constraint on the legitimate legislature and overtake the legitimate legislature" using armed force between May 19 and July 27. Mara stepped aside when martial law was declared on May 29. Speight's security adviser Ilisoni Ligaira, media adviser Joe Nata, political adviser Timoci Silatolu and his younger brother, Jim Speight, were among the 16 others also charged with treason. Though treason carries the death penalty on conviction, it has not been carried out since Fiji's independence from Britain in 1970.