Speight could face treason charge

Prosecutors say Mr Speight's amnesty is null and void

Prosecutors in Fiji have called for the amnesty offered to the rebel leader George Speight and his supporters to be ignored.

Mr Speight appeared in court with 12 co-defendants and was charged with firearms and public order offences - to which he pleaded not guilty.

Any decree entered into under duress is null and void

Prosecutor Rachel Olutimayin

But prosecutors have said Mr Speight is likely to be charged with treason - a capital offence.

The charges relate to the events of last May, when George Speight seized Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and members of his multi-racial government and held them hostage for eight weeks.

No amnesty

Prosecutor Rachel Olutimayin said the agreement which ended the siege of the Fijian parliament had been signed under duress by the army commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

She also said the rebels had failed to return all the weapons used in the uprising - another condition of the amnesty deal.

Supporters sang hymns outside the court

"Any decree entered into under duress is null and void and of no legal consequence, therefore no-one can take advantage of the immunity," she said.

A charge of treason may be brought against the rebel leader on the basis of allegations that Mr Speight made death threats against President Josepha Ilowillow.

It is an offence that carries the death sentence.

However, no one has been executed in Fiji since its independence in 1970.

Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo remanded Mr Speight and his supporters for a further hearing on 1 September and all 13 men were ordered to return to their prison on the island of Nukulau.

Tight security

Heavy security surrounded the building as Mr Speight and 12 co-conspirators arrived for the hearing.

The BBC's Phil Mercer, who is in Suva, says about 1,000 people gathered outside the court, many of them singing hymns.

Mr Speight did not look at the media and made no comment as he was escorted from the bus and taken into the court cells, his usually shaven head covered in stubble.

Just in front of him, wearing a white bandage swathed around his head, was his military adviser, Ilisoni Ligairi.

Mr Speight was taken to hospital briefly on Friday for a medical examination after claiming in a letter to his lawyers that he and seven supporters had been beaten by the military.

Mr Speight has been charged with:

• Going armed in public "without lawful occasion and in such a manner as to cause terror".
• Consorting with people carrying firearms and ammunition
• Unlawfully burying a supporter in parliament
• Unlawful assembly at parliament
• Unlawful assembly at Kalabu school, a rebel stronghold

The illegal burial charge relates to the funeral of a Speight supporter killed in a gun battle with soldiers on 18 July.

Mr Speight and his supporters staged the May coup to demand power for indigenous Fijians.

The rebels demanded Fiji's large ethnic Indian population be stripped of political power.

About 150 more of Mr Speight's supporters have been charged with unlawful assembly, which carries a maximum penalty of one year's jail.