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	George Speight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		George Speight, occasionally known as Ilikimi Naitini (born 1957), was the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, in which he kidnapped thirty-six government officials and held them from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000.
		Speight's partner, Torika Rawlinson, told the student newspaper Wansolwara that the original intention had been to execute members of the deposed government the night before the coup actually took place.
		Fiji Live quoted Speight as alleging that the real reason for the strident opposition of the Military to the legislation establishing the proposed Commission was that their own role in the coup plot would be in danger of being revealed.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/George_Speight (1253 words)

	George Speight
		George Speight (born 1957) was a rebel leader in Fiji who kidnapped 36 government people and stayed in de facto power from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000.
		In the 1990s, George Speight built up a successful marketing business, but many contracts were lost after Mahendra Chaudhry, an Indo-Fijian, came to power in the parliamentary election of 1999.
		In August 2001, democracy was restored and in the subsequent election, Speight was elected to parliament.
	www.guajara.com /wiki/en/wikipedia/g/ge/george_speight.html (418 words)

	PM - Coup leader George Speight speaks
		GEORGE SPEIGHT: We don't want you to come here and intentionally or unintentionally inflame the emotions that are obviously in existence here because these are matters to do with the future, the destiny of our people and our country.
		GEORGE SPEIGHT: Well because I think, you know, the reason for the coup was to stop the nation.
		GEORGE SPEIGHT: Em, I have requested that I present the proposal or the information paper to the Great Council of Chiefs but that's still being considered at the moment because it is a.
	www.abc.net.au /pm/stories/s129781.htm (1021 words)

	Series of EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning a Coup, Hostage Incident, and Continuing Conflict on Fiji: 19 May 2000 ...
		Speight was arrested with his legal adviser, media adviser and a bodyguard at a bridge checkpoint as he left the rebel camp at Koluba.
		George Speight, who led Fiji's coup attempt on 19 May, said he believed the military was split on whether to support his bid to overthrow the government.
		Speight has said that so far as he was concerned, Ratu Mara had "no legal claim to the title of president." According to Speight, Chaudhry and his ministers are being kept locked in parliament for their own protection "because of the absolute immense level of the backlash of public hate for them.
	www.emergency.com /2000/Fiji_series.htm (8118 words)

	TIME Pacific \| George Speight \| December 25, 2000 \| NO. 51 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Speight was not supposed to lead the coup: according to hostage Poseci Bune, "There was someone else coming [to take charge], but he didn't turn up." But the voluble former insurance salesman proved an eager substitute.
		Inspired, young women wrote songs for him ("George Speight, I'm behind you all the way," ran one paean), grandmothers cooked special dishes for him, and unemployed youths rushed to serve in his private army.
		Speight, 43, a part-European fond of golf and get-rich schemes, had less in common with his ragged retainers than with his bosses, a cabal of ex-army officers, opposition politicians and businessmen.
	www.time.com /time/pacific/magazine/20001225/poy_speight.html (551 words)

	Griffith Asia Institute (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Even George Speight himself admitted that ‘the race issue between Fijians and Indians is just one piece of the jigsaw puzzle that has many pieces.’ In this respect, it is unlike the crisis of 1987 which was seen largely as an ethnic conflict between Fijians and Indo-Fijians.
		Speight is also supported by people like himself, young businessmen on the make, who rode the gravy train of the 1990s, benefited from opportunistic access to power, secured large, unsecured loans from the National Bank of Fiji, but then found their prospects for continued prosperity dimming upon the election of a new government.
		George Speight laments the ‘gradual erosion of things that are important to Fijians in their own country.’ This erosion has been taking place for many decades.
	www.gu.edu.au /text/centre/asiainstitute/seminars_lectures/lal02.html (6788 words)

	Defending George Speight
		In her article, Mere Samisoni continues to venerate George Speight and his batis' seizure and holding hostage of a democratically elected government and threatening to murder them unless the Council of Chiefs accepted their demands to install them as the Government.
		Mere Samisoni defends "George Speight's batis" taking advantage of the SVT and NVTLP organised marches but she glosses over the fact that George was a very late convert to Fijian nationalism.
		Speight retaliated against his sacking from the Fiji Pine and Hardwood Corporation Boards and the loss of his opportunity to become a millionaire with the TRM bid, by helping arouse the feelings of the mahogany landowners of Tailevu, Naitasiri and Namosi against the choice of CDC as preferred bidder.
	www.fijihosting.com /pcgov/docs_o/jd_defending_speight.htm (2061 words)

	HARIAN UMUM SUARA MERDEKA (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Speight, who overthrew ethnically divided Fiji's first ethnic-Indian prime minister in 2000 in the name of indigenous rights, pleaded guilty to treason before the high court earlier in the day and burst into tears on hearing the death sentence.
		Speight, dressed in a traditional sulu skirt and jacket, caused surprise by pleading guilty to the charge when the long-delayed hearing began on Monday in the capital Suva, where rioters burned and looted shops and Indian homes during the coup.
		Speight's lawyer said his client had entered a plea of guilty knowing he faced the death sentence so that 10 coaccused rebels could face a lesser charge.
	www.suaramerdeka.com /harian/0202/20/eng1.htm (593 words)

	rediff.com: Fijian army arrests George Speight (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The Fijian Army has arrested George Speight, the failed businessman who led the coup that ousted the elected government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry on May 19, the British Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.
		Speight and his gunmen were granted amnesty in a deal signed with the military two weeks ago, following which Chaudhry and his ministers, who had been held hostage in Parliament House since the coup, were released.
		Speight wants the nationalist and career diplomat Adi Samanunu Cakobau, a descendant of Fiji's nineteenth century king, to be made prime minister in place of the military's choice, Laisenia Qarase.
	www.rediff.com /news/2000/jul/26fiji.htm (369 words)

	Window on the World (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Meanwhile George Speight with his armed guards and hundreds of supporters acting as human shields marched down the road to question the combined police and military forces as to why they were detaining us and blocking free access to his supporters.
		This attack on George Speight will delay further negotiations, and it appears that the release of the hostages may take some time because of the military's firm stand to form a military government.
		George Speight agreed June 2 to release the women hostages but they refused to be released on the grounds that either all hostages are released or none at all.
	www.wcg.org /WN/00july/window_on_the_world.htm (1546 words)

	Fiji: Government Coup (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The current military ruler has refused to give Speight control of the government, but is reluctant to evict the rebels for two reasons; potential Fijian backlash due to wide public support for Speight, and ousted President Mara’s daughter is among the hostages.
		Despite this, Speight challenged Bainimarama authority and claimed that the military was equally divided in its support for the government and the rebels.
		George Speight is the son of former Prime Minister Sam Speight, who lost power exactly a year ago.
	www.vic-info.org /RegionsTop.nsf/0/4a2eab425c35c7948a2568e80073faf0?OpenDocument (530 words)

	Mounting opposition in Fiji to racialist coup
		To increase the pressure on Speight, Bainimarama set a June 6 deadline for senior military officers to abandon Speight's occupation of the parliamentary complex or be stripped of their commissions.
		Speight has renewed his earlier calls for the Great Council of Chiefs to arbitrate between the two groups and sponsor the formation of an interim civilian government to draw up a new racially-based Constitution.
		Of mutual concern to Speight, the military and the capitalist powers is the danger that rising opposition to the coup could spark wider discontent among the increasingly impoverished Fijian population.
	www.wsws.org /articles/2000/jun2000/fiji-j08.shtml (1949 words)

	Speight - Dead Man Walking
		George Speight is doing a lot of praying on Nukulau Island.
		Anyone who crossed Speight's path before he shot to international fame, and I had the dubious privilege of briefly doing so, will recall a foul-mouthed viavialevu, trousers (not sulu) freshly pressed, mobile phone constantly at hand and boasting of the next big deal.
		Military officers on the vessel that took Speight to Nukulau relish telling the story of how he cried when they taunted him by saying they were taking him to Tubou prison on Lakeba.
	www.fijihosting.com /pcgov/docs_o/gdavis_30may2001.htm (857 words)

	Comunità di Sant'Egidio - News
		Speight's guilty plea meant the jury never heard the case, and the judge formally entered a conviction against him.
		Speight never denied leading the uprising, but claimed he was granted immunity during the coup by the Great Council of Chiefs, the country's traditional rulers whose political role largely is symbolic but who command great respect and influence among ethnic Fijians.
		Speight's lawyer told Reuters his client had entered a plea of guilty knowing he faced the death sentence so that 10 co-accused rebels could face a lesser charge.
	www.santegidio.org /pdm/news2002/23_02_02.htm (1215 words)

	George Speight's ruling (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The decision of George Speight to plead guilty for the charge of treason now opens the way for him to appeal to the President Ratu Josefa Iloilo to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy.
		CCF opposes the granting of a pardon or conditional pardon to George Speight and his group under the Prerogative of Mercy because that will be a blow to the rule of law in this country.
		The CCF does not support the imposition of mandatory death sentence on George Speight and will support the amendment of the Penal Code so that the death sentence is changed to a mandatory sentence to life imprisonment.
	www.ccf.org.fj /news/2002/February/180202_SPEIGHT_RULING.htm (508 words)

	Pacific Journalism Online: Taukei takeover
		Speight, a mixed-race fourth-generation descendant of a white settler in Fiji, is the son of Opposition parliamentarian Savenaca Tokainavo, who is among the hostages.
		George Speight's paternal grandmother is from Naivicula village in Wainibuka, about 10km from Korovou in Tailevu, near Suva.
		Speight is understood to have earlier basked in the patronage of former Finance Minister Jim Ah Koy in Rabuka's government.
	www.usp.ac.fj /journ/docs/news/coup21.html (863 words)

	Café Pacific: Asia-Pacific Network: Fiji
		Speight was the apparent coup leader - a kailoma (mixed race) and a failed businessman, who tore off his balaclava to reveal his identity after the seizure of Parliament on May 19, in what was billed by supporters and the news media as a "civil coup".
		In 2000, George Speight led the latest putsch for the same reason, arguing that Rabuka had betrayed the cause by supporting the 1997 Constitution which laid the foundation for a multiracial and democratic future for Fiji.
		Other questions centred on the ethics of giving Speight a media platform, at will, to "sound off" only metres from where 30 MPs, some who had been assaulted with a gun put to their head, were being detained incommunicado.
	www.asiapac.org.fj /cafepacific/resources/aspac/fiji14.html (1927 words)

	Daily Excelsior... World
		Rebel leader George Speight today said on Tuesday the ideal outcome of Fiji’s eight-week hostage crisis would be for him to be named Prime Minister by the South Pacific country’s traditional chiefs.
		Speight said earlier he would release the hostages this week as agreed in the Sunday accord but he threw some doubt over the exact timing of their release, suggesting it might not be on Thursday as originally planned.
		Speight said the hostages would be released after dark to avoid publicity, but he declined to say on what day.
	www.dailyexcelsior.com /00july12/inter.htm (2443 words)

	Fiji 2000: Country Report
		Speight, a failed businessman, was a skilled media manipulator in the early days of the coup attempt, disguising his bid for personal power as a crusade to help indigenous Fijians.
		Meanwhile, Speight and nine of his alleged co-conspirators were in prison awaiting trial on charges of treason and assorted other crimes committed in the course of the rebellion.
		Speight supporter Isoa Raceva Karawa was subsequently charged with three counts of attempted murder, for allegedly targeting Harmer and two government soldiers, and with illegal possession of firearms.
	www.cpj.org /attacks00/asia00/Fiji.html (1680 words)

	Logbook about the May 19, 2000 coup in Fiji
		Speight was sworn in as Interim Prime Minister then others were sworn in before Ratu Jope Seniloli as members of his Cabinet.
		Speight supporters are taken in custody when they leave the Parliament complex: Simione Kaitaini, Information Minister in the Taukei Civilian Government and his brother Meli were arrested overnight, when police find a gun in the vehicle they are travelling in.
		One of George Speight's supporters who was among a group which was terrorising residents at Vuda Road is shot in the legs by the army.
	www.fijihosting.com /pcgov/events/coup_log.htm (4269 words)

	Pacific Journalism Online: News
		WHILE most of the 5000 students at USP rushed home for safety on the day of the seizure of Fiji's elected government by rebel leader George Speight and his gunmen, student jounalists chose to be on the job.
		Although Speight at first threatened to execute the hostages, and Chaudhry reportedly was beaten, the rebel leader welcomed journalists inside Parliament for interviews.
		Speight is mixed race, the descendant of a fourth-generation white settler.
	www.usp.ac.fj /journ/docs/news/cpunews.html (1785 words)

	Asia Times: Pariah status stalks Fiji
		Speight claimed his men had ousted the first Indo-Fijian led government, elected last year, on behalf of all ethnic Fijians.
		Speight and his supporters say Indo-Fijian's, who were brought to Fiji a century ago by British colonizers and make up more than 40 percent of the 800,000 population of Fiji, are too politically and economically dominant in the Pacific island.
		The hostage crisis was resolved on Jul 13, when Speight and his supporters were granted an amnesty from prosecution and the emergency military regime proposed to the nation's traditional governing body, the Great Council of Chiefs, that Speight supporter Ratu Josefa Iloilo be appointed president.
	www.atimes.com /oceania/BG20Ah01.html (879 words)

	Fijian Democracy Born - 27th May 2000
		Dissenters claimed that the Speight plan would discriminate against the Indian Fijians, pointing out that they are less able to buy guns and are not well represented in the military.
		Speight's views appear to be gathering supporters, especially among the military.
		Presidential candidate George Bush condemned the Speight approach, "Elections should be won by whoever can pay for enough advertising to brainwash the population into voting for you" he said.
	www.simonhill.com /news/fiji.html (344 words)

	rediff.com: Fiji coup plotter George Speight's trial
		The court rejected a bid by the state prosecutor to postpone to an unspecified date an inquiry into the evidence for the charges against Speight and nine co-accused, which had been due to begin on January 3.
		Diplomatic sources and political experts have said the treason charges against Speight were in danger of collapsing over a failure by incompetent police and prosecutors to gather adequate evidence.
		Speight and his accomplices stormed parliament on May 19 last year, ousting prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry and taking him and members of his government hostage for 56 days.
	www.rediff.com /news/2001/jan/04fiji.htm (253 words)

	George Speight not going to parliament, says prisons chief (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Mr Taoka says Mr Speight will be treated like any other remand prisoner and there are no provisions for remand prisoners to be released for parliamentary sittings.
		Mr Speight - who led last year's coup attempt and hostage taking at Parliament - won a seat in the general elections returning Fiji to democracy.
		If Mr Speight does not attend parliamentary sessions, he could be dismissed by the Speaker and a by-election held.
	www.hellopacific.com /news/general/news/2001/09/19/19e.htm (605 words)

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