21 Oct 2006

Julian Moti gets bail

7:30 am on 21 October 2006

The Australian fugitive lawyer Julian Moti has been granted bail by a Solomon Islands court after he agreed to meet a list of strict conditions.

Mr Moti was bailed on charges of illegal entry linked to his clandestine arrival in the Solomons earlier this month aboard a PNG military plane.

He was smuggled into the country without a valid passport at a time when Australia was seeking his extradition on child sex charges.

He was ordered not to associate with any witnesses or co-accused in his case and to report to police twice a week.

Mr Moti was with two associates when he landed in the Solomons - Hapa, a Solomons lawyer, and Robson Djokovic, a Solomons official and the nephew of Mr Moti's friend and supporter Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

The order means Moti cannot approach the two men, who have been charged with aiding and abetting his escape from PNG.

He is also forbidden from any contact with Solomons Immigration Minister Peter Shanel who has been charged with lying about an order that allowed Moti to enter the Solomons without a passport.