supporting Tora's version of the alleged plot against President Iloilo in 2000. Qarase said that he was at the meeting at which the request to remove Iloilo was alleged to have been made, and that no such question had ever come up. Unlawful assembly conviction In a separate but related matter, Tora appeared in court with 12 others on 5 September, on charges of unlawful assembly. The charge was related to their involvement in the illegal takeover of a military checkpoint on Queens Highway in the Nadi suburb of Sabeto, on 13–14 July 2000. Tora was initially acquitted on such charges on 3 November 2004, with Magistrate Syed Shah finding inconsistencies in police statements and court evidence. The Director of Public Prosecutions filed an appeal which was adjourned until 19 September, when High Court Justice John Connors overturned Tora's previous acquittal, along with that of his 12 accomplices. Connors set the last week of September for their sentencing, and remanded each of the accused on F$500 bail. Defence lawyer Iqbal Khan announced that he would prepare an appeal to be filed soon after the sentencing. On 26 September, Justice Connors remanded Tora and his 12 accomplices in custody, pending sentencing at 9.30am the following morning. Tora's lawyer, Iqbal Khan, said that Tora had been leading a peaceful protest to call for the paramount chief of his district, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, to be appointed President. Moreover, the country was in political turmoil at the time and the accused had later reconciled with the military according to Fijian cultural norms, Khan said. Khan told the court that Tora had agreed that he should face the full brunt of the law for his actions, and was prepared as a leader of the Sabeto and Natalau villages in Nadi to take responsibility for the actions of his accomplices, who were bound by Fijian protocol to obey his orders as their Turaga ni Yavusa (tribal chief). He quoted Tora as requesting that "any punishment meted out by the court be directed towards me and me only and not to any other of my co-accused." He appealed, however, for leniency to be shown to Tora on account of his old age. On 27 September, Connors sentenced Tora to an eight-month prison sentence, and his accomplices to four months each. Connors said that a fine and a suspended prison sentence would not be appropriate, given the seriousness