The Suva Magistrates Court has reinstated the original bail conditions for former journalist Charlie Charters after he appeared in court this morning, marking the latest development in a case that has seen several bail variations and legal filings in recent weeks.
Charters, who returned to Fiji from Australia last week after work commitments, appeared before Magistrate Sageeth Somaratne. The court released his sureties and allowed the defence to collect their passports from the court registry. Defence counsel Seforan Fatiaki told the court they have filed and served two notice of motions — one seeking a variation of bail to permit upcoming travel, and the other seeking the release of Charters’ personal electronic devices currently in custody.
Fatiaki told the court that Charters plans to travel to Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to attend his uncle’s funeral. He also argued that FICAC’s disclosures do not reference the devices now held by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption, and asked the court to order their return. Fatiaki separately advised the court that the defence intends to file a permanent stay application at the High Court, but will await the outcome of a stay application brought by former deputy prime ministers and a senior Suva lawyer because of its direct bearing on his client’s case.
FICAC lawyer Rusiate Doidoi confirmed receipt of the notice of motions and sought time to file a response. Doidoi told the court the commission seized Charters’ devices under a search warrant and that its forensic team is still investigating the principal offender and tracing from whom Charters obtained the information alleged to be central to the matter. Doidoi was instructed by Magistrate Somaratne to file FICAC’s response by 11am on Wednesday, with the hearing listed for the same afternoon.
A ruling on the bail variation application has been scheduled for next Tuesday. Pre-trial matters in the case have been set down for April 7. Those dates will determine whether Charters is permitted to travel abroad for the funeral and potentially other work-related trips while criminal proceedings continue.
The reinstatement of Charters’ original bail conditions follows earlier hearings in which his lawyers sought permission for overseas travel. In a March hearing, defence counsel had told the court Charters needed to travel to Australia for employment and had provided sureties and cash security as part of his bail package. This latest hearing clarifies that Charters has returned to Fiji and that the court is addressing competing requests over his devices and proposed travel while FICAC continues its forensic probe.
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