SUVA Fijian rebel leader George Speight has been charged with a series of criminal offences and is being investigated for treason, police said on Tuesday.
The charges mean Speight is likely to be brought from his island prison of Nukulau to face a court in the capital Suva, although a date for a hearing has not been set.
Assistant commissioner of police Moses Driver said Speight and several key supporters had been charged with offences under emergency decrees in place in Fiji.
"They are quite serious in nature," Driver told Reuters.
The charges include unlawful assembly at Fiji's Parliament house, where Speight's group held deposed prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry hostage for 56 days, and at a school where they gathered after Chaudhry's release last month.
They were also charged with consorting with people in possession of firearms and illegal burial of a body at Parliament house.
Speight's group buried one of their supporters who died after a brief gunbattle with the military on July 4.
Driver said the military, police and prosecutors were still examining possible treason charges against Speight.
(Reuter)