It is understood that Imran Hosany, of the Sunday Times, was charged with assault and appeared in court on Wednesday.

Mrs McAreavey, the 27-year-old daughter of Tyrone GAA boss Mickey Harte, was killed in her luxury hotel room at the Legends resort in January 2011 while on honeymoon on the island.

Twelve graphic images appeared in Sunday's edition of the publication - which is not connected to any newspaper in the UK or Ireland.

Hotel workers Sandip Moneea and Avinash Treebhoowoon were cleared of the former beauty queen's murder by a jury at the Supreme Court in Port Louis last Thursday. They were on duty at the resort on the day of her death.

Mr Hosany, the newspaper director general and editor, has since apologised saying the crime scene photos were printed to remind the public "that such a heinous crime remained unpunished".

An investigation into how the photographs got into the hands of the media is ongoing, but Sanjeev Teeluckdharry, who represented Mr Treebowhoon, said any allegations that the pictures were leaked by the defence counsel were "absurd".

"We've had an overwhelming victory and this is an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the defence counsel," he told UTV, adding that he was not aware any such paper existed until the scandal erupted.

Mr Teeluckdharry is also calling for an international commission to investigate the case, and welcomed the Mauritian prime minister's calls for PSNI and Garda detectives to aid the inquiry.

"We got information and we put it in the form of a report and we are serious should the government set up a commission of inquiry we are ready to give that report which contains privilege and serious information for them to trigger a serious inquiry."

The lawyer also revealed that the two men acquitted of Mrs McAreavey's murder could seek compensation.

"The state will consider giving them [Treebowhoon and Moneea] compensation for having withheld their bail and for having detained them for 18 months," he added.