The son of the Fijian prime minister is facing criminal charges in relation to domestic violence-related allegations in a New South Wales court.
Ratu Meli Bainimarama, 36, has been charged with 17 offences related to domestic violence, including five charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two charges of stalking, four charges of common assault, one charge of destroying or damaging property, one charge of intentionally distributing an intimate image without consent and four counts of intentionally choking a person without consent.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between February and May of 2022 in Sydney.
Bainimarama, the only son of the prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, was arrested last week. He has been granted bail.
An interim suppression order was granted on Saturday, which prevented publication of the identities of either the alleged victim or Bainimarama.
At a hearing at Windsor local court on Friday, lawyers for the ABC challenged the suppression order, arguing that not allowing the publication of the defendant’s name went against the principle of open justice.
“To suggest somehow the reporting of materials now will somehow influence jurors 12 months down the track is fanciful,” said Corey Jankie, senior lawyer for the ABC.
The magistrate ruled the interim suppression order should be lifted and Bainimarama could be identified, though the alleged victim’s identity cannot be revealed.
The first mention of the charges against Bainimarama was heard on Thursday at Windsor local court, north-west of Sydney. The next mention will be on 13 October.
Bainimarama did not appear in person and his lawyer appeared via audio link.
Inside the small courtroom on Thursday, three Fijian nationals sat in the public gallery, on old wooden pews, watching proceedings. They did not know Bainimarama personally.
“We just wanted to come and see him, we thought he’d be here,” said Feoko Vanuarua, who comes from the Lau group of islands in Fiji but now lives in Sydney.
The men said that the case came at a problematic time for the prime minister, who is gearing up for an election in November, which some analysts suggest could be the closest-fought election in recent Fijian history.
“Right now, he’s feeling the heat,” said the third man.
