SUVA, Fiji — Fiji coup leader George Speight and three aides have been injured in military custody, his lawyer said on Monday as the government brought charges against the first of hundreds of Speight supporters.
"They were injured," Speight's lawyer Kigione Vuetaki told Reuters, referring to Speight, media adviser Joe Nata and legal adviser Tevita Bukaru.
He did not give details of the injuries.
Vuetaki said he would file a writ of habeas corpus in a bid to force authorities to call Speight into court on Tuesday or Wednesday to detail the charges against him and to call for an independent medical report into the injuries.
Fiji's military has said Speight could face treason charges for storming parliament on May 19 and taking Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian leader, and most of his cabinet hostage for 56 days in the name of indigenous Fijian rights.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Joe Naigulevu told Reuters that Speight and his men could be ordered held without charge for up to seven days under emergency decrees in force in Fiji.
"That order was issued on Saturday for seven days," he said.
Independent radio FM96 said police had charged Speight with criminal activities allegedly committed since July 14 — the day after Chaudhry was freed. No details of the charges were given.
Vuetaki visited Speight at Nukulau Island on Sunday, a day after Speight and his core supporters were moved to the island, off Suva, which has been declared a no-go zone by the military.
Speight, Nata and Bukaru were detained last Wednesday at the start of a military crackdown against Speight's supporters which resulted in more than 300 arrests.
Soldiers stood guard on the roof of Suva's old parliament house on Monday as groups of around 10 rebels at a time began filing into two courtrooms inside to face unlawful assembly charges which carry a maximum one-year jail term.
The first group of rebels entered court with clenched fists raised to cheers from some of the hundreds of relatives of rebels gathered outside.
Military and court officials said charges would be heard against 420 people—361 men and 59 women—mostly stemming from a raid on the rebels' camp in a Suva school last Thursday.
About 40 rebels appeared on Monday and pleaded not guilty. They were granted bail, ordered not to congregate or hold political assemblies and told to return to court in four weeks.
Authorities on Monday moved to strengthen order and stability, with the military regaining control of an army barracks in Labasa where rebel soldiers had held some 40 other soldiers hostage for several weeks.
The military had given the rebels until midnight on Monday to surrender or risk an assault.
The military is also hoping for a peaceful end this week to the rebel occupation of a hydro-electric facility at Monasavu on the main island of Viti Levu.
Fiji media reported on Monday a number of Indian-owned houses north of the capital Suva were looted and burnt overnight.
Chaudhry said on Monday the maintenance of law and order was the most difficult task ahead for Fiji and suggested outside help might be needed.
He said the new administration of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase should look for outside help from world bodies such as the United Nations if it was unable to maintain order.
"If the regime there is unable to do so, then it should itself seek assistance," Chaudhry told a news conference in Sydney after meeting Howard to discuss international help in restoring democracy to Fiji.
Speight demanded an end to the political power of the ethnic Indian community, which makes up 44 percent of the population, and only released his hostages after an interim indigenous government was named.
Australia has led a campaign of limited international aid, diplomatic and sporting sanctions but has ruled out severe economic sanctions.