Court ruling

Fiji's Supreme Court lifted a stay order which had prevented the U.S. from seizing the superyacht Amadea.

A US Justice Department's Taskforce has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets of Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

The 106m Amadea arrived in Fiji on 13 April after an 18-day voyage from Mexico.

It was seized by Fiji authorities after the country's High Court granted a US warrant last month that linked the yacht to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

Justice Geof Muecke ruled last week that the group called the Nauru 19, which has been facing charges over a parliamentary protest for 3 years, is entitled to legal aid from the state.

Up to now the group has been relying on its Australian lawyers to work for free but it sought a court ruling when that situation became untenable.

The government is required to make a payment today of US$166,606 into the trust account of Sydney solicitor Christian Hearn.

The five-man bench ruled that the detention breached the right to personal liberty in the Constitution. Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, Justices Sir Bernard Sakora, Ambeng Kandakasi, Don Sawong and Terence Higgins also ordered that both Australia and Papua New Guinea Governments take all necessary steps to stop the operations of the regional processing centre.

Around 900 men are in the detention center on the Papua New Guinean Island, according to Australian immigration authorities.