Fiji’s death penalty
The Korovou Prison complex. Picture: RAMA
DO you know that the last execution by hanging took place in Fiji in 1964? Between 1958 and 1964, when the last man was hung, there were 10 executions within prison walls at the then Suva goal.
The Legislative Council voted in 1965 to suspend the death penalty after some reservations. However, in 1979, some wanted it back so there was a serious debate on whether to continue with capital punishment or not. That same year, after a vote in parliament, the death penalty ended, marking the end of a dark part of Fiji’s history.
The Fiji Times report of February 22, 1979 noted that prison officers were unanimously against any reintroduction of the death penalty.
Controller of Prison Wally Smith said, his officers “did not like it a bit” and felt “strongly against participating in anything to do with hanging”.
Death by hanging took approximately five minutes.
It was attended by the executioner, a minister belonging to the condemned prisoner’s faith, and “as many prisoners as necessary” to ensure the hanging procedures were carried out effectively according to law. The usual number of attending prison officers was six.
Condemned criminals were told the infamous instruction to take their last look at Beqa Island, known in the iTaukei language as “Rai ki Beqa” before they were led to the gallows, at the back of Suva’s Korovou Prison.
“The condemned cell in which a hanging took place was a room about 20 square feet and the prisoner was usually led over a trap door and a noose was placed around his/her neck by the hangman. Almost like a solemn occasion, the only words spoken during the execution were the instructions and exchanges between the executioner and prison officers,” The Fiji Times noted.
No communication with the condemned man was allowed.
For the hangman, the job of putting someone to death was more than just pressing a lever. There were technical aspects of the job, such as judging the exact distance of the drop necessary to cause death without decapitating the body. Fiji’s last known official executioner William Reeves died at the Father Law Home in December 1999, at the age of 91.
Mr Reeves was hired as a specialist hangman by the colonial Government and received a monthly stipend of $300 until his death, as pension.
Fiji totally abolished the death penalty from all its laws on February 10, 2015.
Before that, the only remaining reference to the death penalty existed in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act.
In 1979, Fiji abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes and removed the last references to the death penalty in its penal code in 2002.
The Legislative Council voted in 1965 to suspend the death penalty after some reservations. However, in 1979, some wanted it back so there was a serious debate on whether to continue with capital punishment or not. That same year, after a vote in parliament, the death penalty ended, marking the end of a dark part of Fiji’s history.
The Fiji Times report of February 22, 1979 noted that prison officers were unanimously against any reintroduction of the death penalty.
Controller of Prison Wally Smith said, his officers “did not like it a bit” and felt “strongly against participating in anything to do with hanging”.
Death by hanging took approximately five minutes.
It was attended by the executioner, a minister belonging to the condemned prisoner’s faith, and “as many prisoners as necessary” to ensure the hanging procedures were carried out effectively according to law. The usual number of attending prison officers was six.
Condemned criminals were told the infamous instruction to take their last look at Beqa Island, known in the iTaukei language as “Rai ki Beqa” before they were led to the gallows, at the back of Suva’s Korovou Prison.
“The condemned cell in which a hanging took place was a room about 20 square feet and the prisoner was usually led over a trap door and a noose was placed around his/her neck by the hangman. Almost like a solemn occasion, the only words spoken during the execution were the instructions and exchanges between the executioner and prison officers,” The Fiji Times noted.
No communication with the condemned man was allowed.
For the hangman, the job of putting someone to death was more than just pressing a lever. There were technical aspects of the job, such as judging the exact distance of the drop necessary to cause death without decapitating the body. Fiji’s last known official executioner William Reeves died at the Father Law Home in December 1999, at the age of 91.
Mr Reeves was hired as a specialist hangman by the colonial Government and received a monthly stipend of $300 until his death, as pension.
Fiji totally abolished the death penalty from all its laws on February 10, 2015.
Before that, the only remaining reference to the death penalty existed in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act.
In 1979, Fiji abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes and removed the last references to the death penalty in its penal code in 2002.