Charlie Charters Photo: Facebook / Charlie Charters
A former Fijian journalist was released on bail after appearing in the Suva Magistrates court on Monday with a high-powered legal team.
Fiji's Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) took 48 hours to officially charge Charlie Charters (57) with two counts of aiding and abetting an unknown FICAC whistleblower to divulge confidential FICAC information.
Charters, who is a former senior manager at the Fiji Rugby Union, was released on a non-cash bond of FJD$2000 and ordered not to interfere with state witnesses.
Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne also issued a stop departure order, meaning Charters cannot leave Fiji, and requested he surrender his travel documents.
He appeared on Monday, supported by five lawyers; Seforan Fatiaki, Wylie Clarke, Laurel Vaurasi, Richard Naidu and Subhash Parshotam, who objected to the bail conditions.
They requested seven days for FICAC to present the second phase disclosures.
Charters, a Fijian and British national, was arrested by FICAC officials on Saturday after he arrived at Nadi International Airport to renew his passport. He spent the weekend in custody at FICAC house in Suva.
He has previously written extensively on Facebook about the inner workings of FICAC and the Fiji Sports Council, citing publicly available documents and his own sources.
His arrest and detention has sparked concerns about freedom of expression from the country's politicians, advocates and journalists.
Charters addressed the media after his court appearance, saying:
"I'd like to thank you all for the support the media has shown to the issues that my arrest, detention and charging have raised."
Charters also thanked well-wishers who had messaged him through social media.
"Many of those messages have commented on how much weight I have put on since I worked (in the media) in early 1990s, which is true," he said.
"But two nights in FICAC house has helped me begin the process of losing weight, so I look forward to being a more attractrive and trim version of myself in the future, thanks to the charging decisions of Ms Rokoika (Lavi Rokoika, the acting commissioner of FICAC)."
Charters said he was going home to contact his four children and his 93-year-old mother in England who had been very distressed about his situation.
