1. The High Court of Fiji has granted leave to the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum to issue contempt proceedings against the General Secretary of Oceania Football Confederation, Tai Nicholas.
2. Accordingly, the High Court has granted leave for service on Tai Nicholas out of jurisdiction by way of substituted service, in this case, by registered mail. The registered mail was sent to Tai Nicholas on December 6, 2011.
3. The contempt proceedings arise out of an article titled "FIFA probes Doc", which was published in the Fiji Times. The article reported Tai Nicholas to be saying that "you should be aware that with no judiciary there, his case has been reviewed by one Australian judge. It's not a court per se."
4. The Attorney-General views these comments as scandalising the Courts in Fiji, in that they are a scurrilous attack on the judiciary, thereby lowering the authority of the judiciary in Fiji.
5. The proceedings against Tai Nicholas will be called again in the High Court on December 23, 2011. Similar proceedings have been instituted by the Attorney- General against the Fiji Times, its editor, Fred Wesley and its publisher, Brian O'Flaherty, with respect to the above-mentioned article.