Allegations about the Fiji coup of 2000
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Conspiracy theories abound concerning the Fiji coup of 2000, in which the elected government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was deposed. Police have confessed to difficulty about substantiating many of the rumours, citing a "cone of silence" around many of the suspects. In 2005, however, a small number of people claiming to have inside knowledge of the planning and execution of the coup, went public with allegations that, for the first time, named names. Two such informants are Maciu Navakasuasua and Josaia Waqabaca, both former officials of the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party, whose leadership both have implicated in the coup.
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Maciu Navakasuasua's allegationsNavakasuasua, who served a prison term for coup-related convictions, has been very outspoken about the people that he claims masterminded the Fiji coup of 2000.On 21 September 2005, Navakasuasua went public with allegations that financial backers of the coup, among whom he alleged to be Strategic Air Service Limited executive Watisoni Nata and consultant Navitalai Naisoro, and had tried to hire him to blow up Nadi airport while the then-Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was passing through, and that rebel soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit had intended to kill parliamentarians taken hostage during the crisis. The Fiji Sun interviewIn [an interview] with the Fiji Sun, excerpts of which were published over a period of four days from 20 September and summarized by the Melbourne daily, The Age on 21 September, Navakasuasua said that the coup had been planned by the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party (NVTLP), which had co-opted George Speight as a frontman one day before the plot was executed. Along with the rebel soldiers, Speight had proceeded to usurp the leadership. "It was a coup within a coup. Speight was an opportunist and wanted to grab the leadership role" Navakasuasua said. "We planned and executed the coup for the Fijian race. But then people like Speight, and some former army officers and politicians, joined in to make it look their own cause and try to become heroes out of it."Navakasuasua, who was imprisoned for three years on Nukulau Island for his role in the coup, said that he wanted to come clean about his role in the coup because he had "found God." Upon his release, he had emigrated to Australia, but was prepared to return to Fiji to front up if required, he said. Further statementsNavakasuasua made further allegations on 26 October, that prior to the seizure of the Parliamentary complex, Speight had ordered the kidnapping of then-President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. The plan was allegedly aborted when Jona Vida and Salesi Tuifagalele, both martial arts experts, refused to carry out the abduction. Tuifagalele supported Navakasuasua's version of events, saying that he had attended a meeting on the night of 18 May at the home of Iliesa Duvuloco, the then-leader of the NVTLP, where Speight had made the proposal. Tuifagalele and Vida decided later than night back out, he said, on the grounds that as Lauans, they could not be party to any attack on the President, who was also the Lauans' Paramount Chief. Speight did not call off the attack until the next morning, however, after hearing that Mara was absent from Government House, his official residence.In a further statement from Sydney on 22 November, Navakasuasua alleged that coup convicts Timoci Silatolu and Josefa Nata had been moved out of Nukulau Prison because of attempts by George Speight to "control" them, a situation Navakasuasua said he had also faced. "I was very close to Silatolu and Nata while we were in Nukulau and it became very difficult to us because Speight always wanted to be in control," Navakasuasua declared. He also said that Speight was under the influence of some army officers such as Joseva Savua who had mutinied in events related to the coup. Commenting on Silatolu's recent application for a Presidential pardon, Navakasuasua said he supported the move but called on Silatolu to reveal the names of the hidden characters who had masterminded the coup. "Silatolu is a politician and surely knows some of these big fishes who are now enjoying their life while others suffer in prison," he said. On 15 December 2005, Navakasuasua repeated earlier statements, questioning whether the police were pursuing the investigations seriously enough. Navakasuasua reiterated on 18 December that he is willing to return to Fiji to defend his allegations. He called on the police to diligently pursue the coup masterminds. "The main players have to be punished and once that is done, we can go for reconciliation where God will bless our country," he said. Josaia Waqabaca, a former senior NVTLP member, supported Navakasuasua's version of events on 19 December. Navakasuasua, Jioji Bakoso, and Waqabaca himself had been paid by two business executives to bomb Nadi International airport and strategic positions in Suva after the People's Coalition had come to power in the general election of 1999, he said. They had later withdrawn from the assignment. Waqabaca told the Fiji Sun that he had revealed the identity of the two business executives in his statement to the police. Chaudhry reactsOn 22 September, Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry lodged a complaint with Director of Public Prosecutions Josaia Naigulevu about what he said was a failure on the part of the police to take the allegations seriously enough. He complained that three months had already passed since Navakasuasua had given a statement to the police in Sydney, and that the local police had done nothing about it. "I am also at a loss to understand why the police force is not moving with greater urgency on Navakasuasua's statement, given its very real relevance to the May 2000 insurgency," Chaudhry said. He accused "second-tier officers" in the police force of sabotaging investigations into the coup, and the Navakasuasua allegations in particular.Having lost confidence in the ability of the police to investigate the matter fairly, Chaudhry said he intended to approach Military Commander Frank Bainimarama for help in completing the investigations. "I will go to him (Bainimarama) because he believes in justice, the rule of law and democracy," he said. Chaudhry was responding to Navakasuasua's claims that the police had tampered with his statement. Originally 30 pages, he said it had been reduced to 7 - with all vital information concerning names and places deleted. Approached by the Fiji Sun, Assistant Commissioner Crime Kevueli Bulamaivalu refused to say why the evidence had been altered. On 26 September, Commodore Bainimarama duly met Chaudhry. Both men were tight-lipped at what had transpired in the course of their discussions, but said that a lot of names had come up. The previous day, Bainimarama had said that Chaudhry had the right to talk to anyone he wished, and that what they discussed was nobody else's business. Chaudhry concurred, saying that as he was not a civil servant, he was not bound by any code of conduct requiring public servants to approach the security forces only through the appropriate Minister. He added that he had already met Bainimarama three times for consultations about national security issues. He said that further meetings with the Commander were likely. Chaudhry's stated intention to approach the Military Commander had already attracted criticism on 24 September from Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola, who called on him to follow the proper channels by approaching him as Minister first. "He just can't approach military commander Voreqe Bainimarama and Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes without going through the Minister first," Vosanibola said. Information Minister Marieta Rigamoto also condemned Chaudhry's stated intention, in words almost identical to Vosanibola's. On 28 September, after the meeting had taken place, Vosanibola reiterated his view that Chaudhry should not have approached the Commander without consulting him as Minister first. On 1 October, army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Orisi Rabukawaqa defended Commodore Bainimarama's right, as Commander, to consult with any citizen of the country about matters pertaining to national security. "All major stakeholders should have the opportunity to consult the Commander and the Commissioner on matters pertaining to national security," Rabukawaqa said. He insisted that there was nothing sinister about the meeting, pointing out that Bainimarama and Chaudhry had met in broad daylight in full view of the local media: "They could have met in private out of hours and discussed the very same issues as is guaranteed in our Freedom of Association in the Constitution," he said. Rabukawaqa shared Chaudhry's view of the seriousness of the Navakasuasua allegations, but stopped short of endorsing his criticism of the police handling of the case. The Military had complete faith in the police investigations, Rabukawaqa said. He called on citizens to be vigilant, however, and said that if any of the accused sought political office in 2006, the public should vote their conscience and defeat them. Police Deputy Commissioner Moses Driver had said on 22 September that Chaudhry's allegations were "old news." Navakasuasua's statement had already been followed up, he said, investigations were complete, and certain individuals had in fact been prosecuted and were serving sentences related to the allegations. Chaudhry said that he had forgiven Navakasuasua for his role in the coup. Unlike others who had asked for amnesty while refusing to divulge any information, Navakasuasua had told all he knew and had not asked for amnesty. He said that Navakasuasua had shown genuine remorse for his actions when he travelled from Adelaide to meet him in Sydney, where Chaudhry was attending a conference in June 2004. NVTLP respondsNVTLP leader Iliesa Duvuloco refused to comment on Navakasuasua's allegations about the party's role in the coup, saying that he wanted to look ahead, not back. "Five years have gone and we cannot afford to go back since the country has to move forward," Duvuloco said. Navakasuasua had accused Duvuloco of having met "a former army officer, who is now a politician, at the Holiday Inn in Suva" prior to the coup. He believed this officer to be the man the rebels had waited in vain for at the parliamentary complex, only to find later that he had abandoned them. The identity of this person has not been revealed, but rumours in public and the media have suggested former Prime Minister and 1987 coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka as a possibility.While Duvoloco was refusing to talk, NVTLP President Viliame Savu supported Navakasuasua's version of events. Savu told the Fiji Sun that he, too, was going public to clear his conscience. He said that the party had had to plead with CRW leader Vilimoni Tikotani not to kill the hostages. He also revealed that the real purpose of a nationalist protest in Suva on 19 May 2000 (the morning of the coup) was to distract police and public attention from the Parliamentary complex. Naisoro and Nata have angrily denied Navakasuasua's allegations of their role in financing the coup. Josaia Waqabaca's allegationsJosaia Waqabaca is a Fijian public figure and former political organizer.A one-time senior official of the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party (NVTLP), Waqabaca claims to have been hired by two businessmen, at the behest of the party, to help bomb Nadi International Airport and strategic positions in Suva after the People's Coalition had come to power in the general election of 1999, and to have participated in the coup d'état which deposed the Chaudhry government in May 2000. He has supported similar allegations made by coup-convict Maciu Navakasuasua. The Fiji Sun interviewIn an interview with the Fiji Sun, published on 22 December 2005, Waqabaca said that a religious conversion experience had led him to confess his role in the 2000 coup.As a follower of the late Sakeasi Butadroka, Waqabaca said that he had worked with Navakasuasua and with Peceli Vuniwa. Waqabaca supported Navakasuasua's implication of Strategic Air Service Limited executive Watisoni Nata and consultant Navitalai Naisoro in the plot to blow up Nadi Airport, allegations that both men have angrily denied. Waqabaca claimed that a certain "middleman" is the main link to local and international financiers who, he said, came through Vanuatu. This middleman has since prospered financially as a result of the coup, he claimed. Waqabaca himself had been taken by Naisoro to meet two present Cabinet Ministers, he alleged. He had also met Tailevu chief Ratu Jope Seniloli, who later became Vice-President and was forced to resign in late 2004 after being convicted of coup-related offences. Waqabaca denied knowing for sure that the coup was to take place, but "sensed" that "something uncalled for" was about to happen in connection with the Taukei protest march scheduled for 19 May 2000. Now troubled in his conscience, he claimed to have withdrawn from the march and to have asked Seniloli to withdraw his chiefly support for it. He claimed to have tipped off Haroon Ali Shah (a lawyer and parliamentarian at the time) that something was afoot and that it would be better if Shah did not go to the parliamentary complex that day. Waqabaca praised the work of Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, but expressed suspicions that some of Hughes's subordinates might by stalling the investigations. He suspected that some police officers had links to what he called the "big fry," and were therefore pursuing persons whose involvement in the coup was minor. He called on the police to be faithful to their duty, arrest all suspects, and allow the courts to decide the verdicts. The nationalist position that Waqabaca formerly espoused has "expired," he said. The restoration of the Constitution, which had been abrogated by the Interim Military Government which took power on 29 May 2000, was ordered by the High Court on 15 November that year, and confirmed by the Court of Appeal on 2 March 2001. That "cemented" the Constitution, Waqabaca told the Sun. It was now time to accept reality, to pursue peaceful progress and live in harmony. "We have to join hands and ensure that our children can live well in this country," he said. Allegations against Qarase government ministerOn 1 January 2006, the Fiji Sun quoted Waqabaca as implicating Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Konisi Yabaki in the Nadi Airport plot. Yabaki angrily denied the accusations, telling the Sun that while he knew Waqabaca Navitalai Naisoro well, and Navakasuasua less well, he was neither an accomplice nor an accessory to the plot. Navakasuasua, however, supported Waqabaca's allegations against Yabaki. Yabaki, he said, was a professional who took care not to leave any incriminating evidence of his own role. In a number of meetings, he said, he and Waqabaca had been asked to step aside while Naisoro conferred with Yabaki.In a further statement on 5 January, Yabaki condemned the Fiji Sun for reporting Navakasuasua's allegations against him. "The Sun newspaper should ... refrain from being the outlet in which individuals such as Navakasuasua churn out their wild allegations and speculations, without any concrete basis and which are defamatory in nature," he declared. He called Navakasuasua "a very idle person" who was making unfounded statements from the safety of a foreign country, against persons who have stayed in Fiji to help it recover. Navakasuasua told the Sun on 12 January that he was disappointed that Yabaki, along with Nata and Naisoro, had denied knowing him. He claimed to have eaten at Naisoro's residence in 1999; Yabaki was one of the guests, he claimed. One guest had demonstrated a petrol bomb, and Yabaki had observed the explosion, Navakasuasua asserted. He called on those involved to come clean and face the consequences of their actions. "Ordinary Fijians should stay firm and not allow these elite Fijians to use them so that they can get what they want,” he said.“I’m man enough and as a true Fijian I served my term in prison. So if I can do it then why can’t these others do likewise?" he told the Sun. Police responseOn 27 September, Commissioner of Police Andrew Hughes emphatically rejected FLP Leader Mahendra Chaudhry's suggestion that the police were not serious in their investigation of coup-related offenses, particularly those related to the Navakasuasua allegations. He said that Chaudhry's comments, which he supposed to be an election ploy, were "totally misleading." He did, however, follow that statement up on 30 September with an announcement that a new management team had been formed to reassess all evidence related to the pending investigations. The next day, he said that the police had seven more witnesses named by Navakasuasua to interview.On 19 December, Hughes responded to another media statement by Navakasuasua, saying that most of his allegations were old news and had already been processed by the police. Eighteen witnesses had been located on the basis of Navakasuasua's claims, Hughes said; eleven remained to be interviewed and investigations were ongoing. He denied earlier reports that the police probe was closed or was about to be. Whether Navakasuasua should be brought back to Fiji to testify, however, was up to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, not the police, he said. Opposition parliamentarian Poseci Bune welcomed Hughes's assurance that the case was not closed, but said that main culprits were still at large, and expressed concern the release of coup convicts from prison could enable them and their followers to mar the investigation process. On 3 January 2006, Hughes revealed that the police were investigating two companies linked by Navakasuasua to plot to bomb Nadi Airport and assassinate then-Prime Minister Chaudhry. Hughes announced on 4 January that seven investigations into Navakasuasua's allegations were now underway, with four detectives working solely on these investigations. Three old files had been reopened, the Commissioner said. Two suspects were yet to be interviewed, he revealed. On 9 January, Hughes said that the files containing Navakasuasua's allegations were with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The police did not have the authority to "recall" Navakasuasua to Fiji, he said, but the DPP would probably choose to do so after charges were laid. See also:
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