 Tupou Draunidalo, Vice-President of the Fiji Law Society, denounced the decree as illegal.Ousted Prime Minister Qarase also lambasted it as hypocritical, saying that as opposing a proposed amnesty for perpetrators of the 2000 coup was one of the reasons given by the Military for carrying out this coup, it was inconsistent to grant themselves immunity.In March 2008, Fiji's High Court began proceedings on the case brought by deposed prime minister Lasenia Qarase, who has asked the courts to rule on the legality of the military takeover.