Sentencing date set for woman charged over derogatory Facebook posts

The Suva Magistrate Court has set a sentencing date for Archaal Devi, who is charged with making multiple derogatory posts about another woman on a public Facebook forum.

The case, the first to be sanctioned under the Online Safety Act, had been listed for sentencing last month.

However, Resident Magistrate Yogesh Prasad raised concerns about the evidence tendered by police, particularly screenshots of the alleged posts that did not show the number of views, likes or shares.

Devi, who faces a charge of causing harm through electronic communication, appeared before Magistrate Prasad last Friday for clarification on the matter.

During the proceedings, the investigating officer, Sergeant Jone Naitini, was questioned by the magistrate about the manner in which the investigation was conducted and the reliability of the evidence obtained.

Magistrate Prasad queried Sergeant Naitini on police assertions that the victim suffered significant impact as a result of the posts.

Sergeant Naitini told the court that by the time the complaint was lodged with police, the posts had already been removed from Facebook.

He said that while the forum was public and potentially accessible to many users, the screenshots provided by the victim only showed that the posts were set to public, meaning they may have been viewed.

Defence lawyer Suraj Sharma argued that the court could not impose a sentence based on assumptions or speculation, as suggested by the State.

Mr Sharma said the prosecution had confirmed there was no evidence of the number of views, only that the posts appeared on a public platform.

He said the prosecution had therefore failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the victim suffered harm as a result of the posts.

After clearing this issue out, the court adjourned the case for sentencing to January 21, 2026.

Devi will remain on bail until then.