They have sat down, stood up, taken naps and gone for brief walks since George
Speight and his supporters launched their coup attempt 18 days ago - knowing
all the time that they are under a suspended sentence of death.
By day the MPs, whose numbers have dropped from the 46 initially detained by
Mr Speight to 31, have heard Wesleyan hymns sung by Mr Speight's
supporters, who have flocked to the parliamentary complex in the Suva suburb
of Veiuto.
They also hear the gunfire that has echoed about the parliamentary complex
and
its surroundings, and on one traumatic night through the city of Suva.
The MPs were told at the outset that if any attempt was made to take the
parliamentary complex by force they would be the first to be shot.
Since then, Mr Speight has communicated only briefly with them, telling the
media he would prefer to keep them in the dark to save them from undue stress.
The MPs are in two locations in the parliamentary complex: the parliamentary
chamber and the parliamentary offices about 50 metres away. Between any
would-be rescuers and the hostages are surly Fijian men armed with rifles whose
identity is at best vague.
It is said that within the complex is an arsenal of weapons.
On the third night of the coup, Mr Speight told the Indian Fijians that if
the
crunch came, and the executions started, people of their race would be the first
to
get the bullet.
He gave them the option of resigning from Parliament in writing and leaving.
Ten of them took that option.
Since then, several MPs suffering from diabetes have been released, and Ms
Adi
Ema Tagicakibau was released to attend her sister's funeral.
Through the drama, the director-general of the Fiji Red Cross, Mr John Scott,
has made daily visits, taking in medicine, changes of clothing, supplementary
food from the MPs' families and family messages.
There is independent evidence that at least twice, the former prime minister
Mr
Mahendra Chaudhry has been roughed up.
Individual doctors have been allowed to see the hostages from time to time,
but
media requests to see them have been refused.
This text may have been edited to protect the writer.
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