Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit Court Martial, Fiji

The mutiny that took place at Fiji's Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva on 2 November 2000 resulted in the death of four loyal soldiers. Four of the rebels were subsequently beaten to death after the rebellion had been quelled. A total of 42 soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, who sympathized with George Speight, whose own civilian coup d'état had been put down by the military in July, were subsequently convicted of involvement in the mutiny. Among those convicted was Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, the Qaranivalu of Naitasiri, one of Fiji's most senior chiefs.

On 16 August 2005, the Fiji Court of Appeal delivered a landmark ruling, ordering a retrial of 20 soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (CRW) who had been convicted in a court-martial of participating in the 2000 coup and in a subsequent mutiny in November 2000, and sentenced to prison terms of between three and six years. The Court of Appeal President, Justice Gordon Ward, ruled that the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama had acted properly in convening a court martial, but had exceeded his authority in appointing the members of the panel, thus denying the accused a fair trial. The authority to appoint the court martial panel was vested in the President of Fiji, Ward said, and the Commander could make the appointments only after the President delegated the power to him. He also said that the court martial had improperly failed to separate the charges that each defendant faced.

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