Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has dismissed claims of political interference in the pardoning of George Speight, who led the coup in 2000, and Shane Stevens, the former leader of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (CRW).
This inquiry was prompted after supporters of Rabuka’s political party expressed their desire for the release of Speight and Stevens during campaign meetings for the People’s Alliance prior to the 2022 General Election, with the latest discussions taking place on September 13.
Last Thursday, Speight and Stevens were among seven individuals who received a Presidential Pardon. Speight was convicted of treason in 2002 after pleading guilty, and his original death sentence was later changed to life imprisonment.
In a press conference yesterday, Rabuka emphasized that the Mercy Commission operates independently and that the decisions to pardon the two men were made through established processes without government intervention.
“The People’s Alliance stated that the 2013 Constitution and its various bodies will function without interference, and one of those bodies is the Mercy Commission, which acts independently of the Government,” Rabuka stated. “This decision was purely the Mercy Commission’s, and it had nothing to do with any government or political influence.”