Chaudhry meets with security bosses

[posted 27 April 2005,1900

Opposition leader Mahendra Chaudhry had a joint meeting last week with army commander Frank Bainimarama and Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes regarding the state of investigations into the May 2000 coup.

The meeting was prompted by information against key figures contained in a Police interview with Colonel Viliame Seruvakula. The document was leaked out to Fiji TV and contains damning information against former Police Commissioner Isikia Savua, former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka and a few others already charged for their involvement in the 2000 coup.

The document also names a prominent businessman who forked out the $260,000 cash bribe offered to Seruvakula to join the ranks of the rebels led by George Speight who overthrew the Mahendra Chaudhry-led government.

It also names other prominent financiers of the coup. Seruvakula was commander of the 3rd FIR at the time of the coup and the army mutiny in November that year. He led the successful counter-attack against the army mutineers and claims on 19 May he had desperately sought instructions from Savua to lead a counter-offensive against the rebels in Parliament but failed to get the go-ahead.

Chaudhry wanted to know why Police had not acted on Seruvakula's information. Commissioner Hughes says they are close to pouncing on a number of the key perpetrators and charges will be laid in the next few weeks.