Fiji court rules 2006 coup illegal, calls for elections

A Fiji court on Thursday ruled the military regime formed after the 2006 military coup was illegal and said a caretaker prime minister should be appointed to call for elections and restore democracy.

The Appeals Court of Fiji overturned a Supreme Court judgement last year rejecting an application by ousted prime minister Laisenia Qarase for the military leader Voreqe Bainimarama's regime to be ruled illegal.

The Supreme Court had ruled that President Ratu Josefa Iloilo had acted legally in asking Bainimarama to form an interim government after the bloodless coup, the fourth in the South Pacific nation in two decades.