Police Commissioner Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo said charges against Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries La’auli Leuatea Schmidt should not be mixed with the Tuuau Maletino case.

Maletino was the 19-year-old who was the victim of a hit-and-run case.

Auapa’au said La’auli charges are not for the hit-and-run case as speculated on social media.

He said there was a lot of misinformation on social media causing confusion. He said the hit-and-run case remained open.

"Speculation regarding the connection between the two cases is unhelpful and potentially misleading," he said.

"The current charges are based on specific alleged offences and are being handled through the usual legal channels."

Auapa'au has clarified the charges against Laauli.

He is charged with three counts of conspiracy or attempt to defeat or pervert the course of justice, one of conspiracy to commit an offence (fabricate evidence), one of harassment utilising means of electronic communication, three counts of false statement causing harm to a person's reputation and two counts of using insulting words with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

Even before the charges were laid La’auli went on social media saying he would be going to the police to answer the charges. He held a press conference after he was charged saying his legal team would clear him of the allegations.

In his last social media post, La’auli claimed he was being unfairly treated and even insinuated that the Samoa Observer was treating him like a villain.

In the last 48 hours, social media posts from unverified accounts have flooded the social media where La’auli was hailed a hero and negative comments have been made by the police.

The police have also asked the Office of the Attorney General to impose a departure prohibition order on La’auli as no bail conditions were set when he was released after he was charged. Unlike other MPs who had been charged, La’auli is also not required to report at any police station.

He is due to appear in court on 4 February.