Citizen journalist Charlie Charters is set to appear in court next week as he requests a modification to his bail conditions, permitting him to travel to Australia for work-related reasons. Charters presented his application before Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne in the Suva Magistrate’s Court, where the first hearing of the case took place at 2:30 PM. The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) is opposing his plea and has asked for additional time to file its objections.
Charters faces two charges of aiding and abetting the unlawful disclosure of information from FICAC. These charges stem from specific violations under section 45 of the Crimes Act and section 13(1)(g) of the FICAC Act. The allegations claim that Charters helped an officer of FICAC by publishing confidential information related to the commission’s operations on his Facebook page without prior approval from the FICAC Commissioner late last year.
Magistrate Somaratne has ordered the prosecution to file and serve its objections, as well as second-phase disclosures, by the upcoming Monday. The court is scheduled to reconvene the following day to hear the bail variation application, with a decision expected by Wednesday, March 4. This ongoing legal situation underscores the complexities surrounding the freedom of expression and the boundaries of information sharing within governmental frameworks.