George Speight

George Speight (/speɪt/;[1] born 1957), also known by his pseudonym Ilikimi Naitini,[2] is a Fijian businessman and politician who was the leader of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, in which he and rebel soldiers from Fiji's Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit seized the Fijian Parliament and held Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and 35 other MP's hostage from 19 May 2000 to 13 July 2000. After being convicted of treason for leading the coup, he was serving a sentence of life imprisonment until receiving a presidential pardon on 18 September 2024.

Speight is the son of politician Sam Speight,[3][4] the brother of politician Samisoni Tikoinasau and the uncle of rugby players Henry and Sam Speight.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Pronounce - Browse all names for Fiji". Voice of America Pronounce. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. ^ "The Treason Charge". Scoop. 1 June 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian2000a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Coup leader Speight 'got in first'". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  5. ^ John-Paul Moloney (13 April 2011). "FIJI: Sport - The 'Uncle George' Speight factor". Pacific Media Centre. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  6. ^ Dutton, Chris (1 August 2014). "Saturday Serve: Henry Speight's siblings need a helping hand from Scott Morrison". The Sydney Morning Herald.