Source: Asia Pacific Report
By Rashika Kumar in Suva
Counsel for Fiji-British journalist Charlie Charters has been ordered by High Court judge Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu to serve a motion seeking the return of the 7 electronic devices seized by police on the police chief today.
The motion was filed after police re-seized the devices last Friday under a fresh search warrant, despite an earlier Magistrates Court order for the devices to be returned to Charters’ solicitor, Seforan Fatiaki, by 1pm.
Charters’ counsel, Juleen Fatiaki, told the High Court that Seforan Fatiaki had called to the police CID about 1pm last Friday, when the fresh search warrant was issued.
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She said when Fatiaki was served with the warrant, they put police on notice that they were invoking Section 1(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act, stating that information on the devices was confidential and privileged.
Justice Bulamainaivalu, who joined the proceedings online from Labasa, questioned whether the magistrate who signed the warrant was aware of the High Court’s stay order on the FICAC proceedings.
Juleen Fatiaki said she was not aware and confirmed that Magistrate Sufia Hamza signed the warrant.
She also said that they had only been able to serve the motion to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions after receiving the files back from court this morning and had not been able to serve it on the Police Commissioner.
A hearing on the return of the devices will be held on Monday.
Meanwhile, DPP counsel Alisha Lal told the court they were appearing only as a friend of the court.
Earlier, Fiji Times journalist Anish Chand reported that Charters’ lawyers would tell the High Court that the confidentiality of journalistic sources was protected by Fiji’s Constitution and common law in their challenge over the re-seizure of his electronic devices.
Charters said the devices contained confidential journalistic material, information capable of identifying sources and communications with his legal advisers.
Central to the application was the protection afforded to journalists and their sources.
“The confidentiality of journalistic sources is protected by sections 17 and 24 of the Constitution and at common law,” the application states.
Counsel for Fijian-British national journalist Charlie Charters, Seforan and Juleen Fatiaki and ODPP lawyer Alisha Lal in court.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/08/14/fiji-judge-orders-motion-seeking-return-of-journalists-devices-seized-by-police/