9 Mar 2005

Fiji witness in coup court martial gets name suppression

9:13 pm on 9 March 2005

A key military prosecution witness in a coup court martial currently under way in Fiji has had his name suppressed.

Radio Legend reports that the president of the court martial, Col Ilaisa Kacisolomone, ordered the name suppression for security reasons.

He took the step as information surfaced in the trial that George Speight's rebels had planned to kidnap the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, at Nadi Airport as he returned from Norway three days after the coup.

The military witness, known as Officer X, said the plan became known to army intelligence and a group was deployed to Nadi Airport to escort Commodore Bainimarama safely back to Suva.

Officer X said the information about the planned seizure of the commander was given to him an intelligence officer who obtained it from the accused, Corporal Lagilagi Vosabeci, in parliament after the coup.

The court martial is continuing.