Colonel Metuisela Mua is former
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
an
military officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
,
intelligence officer and
politician.
He was the director of the
Fiji Intelligence Services, established by Colonel
Sitiveni Rabuka's military government in 1988, until it was disbanded by elected
Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...
in 1999.
Biography
He was a leading participant in the
civilian coup, led by
George Speight, which overthrew Chaudhry in 2000. Mua was described during the coup as "one of George Speight's inner sanctum". He subsequently explained that his aim had been to ensure that the
Constitution was amended "to guarantee the supremacy of
indigenous rights".
["FIJIAN MILITARY STILL EXORCISING GHOSTS"](_blank)
Ben Bohane, ''Pacific Journalism Review'', vol.7 n°1, September 2001
Following the failed coup, Mua was "interrogated and beaten
..by loyalist soldiers and relieved of his job. He then spent five months in prison",
having been "convicted of
illegal assembly and consorting with people carrying firearms in parliament". He had initially been sentenced to two and a half years in gaol.
During the
2001 general election, in which he stood as a candidate for George Speight's
Conservative Alliance in the
North East Fijian Urban Communal constituency, he stated publicly that his party would not work with an
Indo-Fijian prime minister. He was not elected.
As of 2005, he was assistant general secretary of the Conservative Alliance.
The party later merged into the
Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
The United Fiji Party ( fj, Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, SDL) was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conser ...
.
In 2007, he was arrested on suspicion of implication in an alleged plot to assassinate interim Prime Minister
Voreqe Bainimarama.
"Fiji Boils Over"
''Time'' magazine, 9 November 2007 In March 2010, along with seven co-defendants, he was founded guilty "beyond reasonable doubt" by the five assessors of the High Court, a verdict upheld by Justice Paul Madigan.
References
External links
Image of Metuisela Mua being taken to court
on 14 December 2007 for his alleged role in an alleged assassination attempt against Voreqe Bainimarama; "Check-up for plot suspects", ''Fiji Times'', 15 December 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mua, Metuisela
Living people
Fijian soldiers
Fijian politicians
Year of birth missing (living people)