Vice President Gets 4 Years for Aiding Coup

Fiji’s vice president was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a 2000 nationalist coup that ousted the first ethnic Indian prime minister in the South Pacific island nation.

Vice President Jope Seniloli, who backed the two-month coup led by ethnic Fijian nationalist George Speight and briefly served as Fiji’s president, had faced a maximum life sentence for his actions.

Four other defendants, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rakuita Vakalalabure and three businessmen, received sentences ranging from one year to six years after being convicted of the same crime.