George Speight - Purported Change of Heart

Purported Change of Heart

On 15 September 2004, a source close to the Fijian government revealed that Speight had renewed his faith in Christianity during his imprisonment. According to the source, Speight's faith had led to a change of heart towards the Indo-Fijian community, and that he wished to participate in the upcoming Fiji Week, a series of prayer meetings and multicultural programmes aimed at reconciling Fiji's ethnic communities, planned for the week of 4 October through 11 October. "He now feels inspired by the word of God and would like to take part in the week of reconciliation," the source told the Australian Associated Press. This request for permission to leave his island prison to take part in the observances was refused, however. At a more personal level, a spokesman for deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that on principle, —provided that he reveal the identities of the persons who had planned and financed the coup. So far, no evidence has been revealed by Chaudary as to who these financiers were despite making these claims. Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes has castigated Chaudary for making unfounded claims and indigenous groups have labeled Chaudary's outburst as an attempt to discredit the "indigenousness" of Speight's coup to cover his own shortcomings as a Prime Minister.