Former coup chief George Speight, sentenced to life imprisonment in Fiji in 2002 for treason, has been launched from jail after being pardoned by Fiji’s Mercy Fee, officers say.
Fiji’s Corrections Service mentioned in a press release that Speight was discharged from custody on Thursday, a day after being pardoned by Fiji’s President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere.
Speight was amongst seven males pardoned and discharged, it mentioned.
“These pardons had been formally granted on 18 September 2024. In consequence, the named people have been formally discharged from custody in the present day,” the assertion mentioned.
From Might to July 2000, armed males led by businessman Speight held then prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji’s first ethnically Indian prime minister, and 35 different MPs hostage.
The Mercy Fee, which has a constitutional function within the justice system, mentioned in a press release on Thursday that Speight had been imprisoned for twenty-four years after pleading responsible to treason, and having his dying sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 2002.
The fee had really useful Speight be granted mercy “in recognition of his rehabilitation and the size of time he has served in jail”, it mentioned.
