BVI ARRESTS GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO DEMANDED TO HAVE ANDREW FAHIE FREED IN MIAMI ON GROUNDS OF DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force has arrested NAJAN CHRISTOPHER, the former Director of the Secretariat of International Affairs of the British Virgin Islands, on charges of Breach of Trust by a Public Officer, and False Assumption of Authority. Ms. Christopher has been assured of preparing, and transmitting, a self-styled diplomatic note, on official Office of BWI Premier letterhead, calling for the unconditional release of arrested Premier Andrew Fahie from Federal custody in Miami, on the ground of Diplomatic Immunity. Fahie faces money laundering and drug trafficking charges in US District Court.

The letter, which reportedly carried the seal of the Secretariat of External Affairs, was, according to all reports, never authorised by the Government of the BVI, and officials of an overseas possession do not have diplomatic immunity for any purpose, under any circumstances. Ms. Christopher, who holds two university degrees in political science and international law & relations,  definitely knew or should have known that the letter was improper and illegal, on its face.

Christopher alleged to the press that she was acting on the orders of the arrested Premier Fahie, and at the request of Fahie's American criminal defence attorney, Theresa Van Vliet, (which is doubtful) but both excuses, even if true, are insufficient to give her authority to prepare and deliver what has been erroneously referred to as a "Diplomatic Note," notwithstanding that representatives of a dependent territory cannot assert any diplomatic privileges or status.

Reliable sources in the Caribbean have asserted that Christopher did not act on her own, but in truth and in fact, was ordered to prepare the letter by a senior member of BVI government and that all claims that she acted alone as a "rogue official" are bogus, and a cover up for the desperate action of a corrupt official who feared that Fahie would, to mitigate his criminal exposure and probable sentence, render Substantial Assistance to US law enforcement, which would result in the arrest and conviction of this unnamed senior BVI leader. Is Christopher to be the sacrificial lamb for obeying such an order?

As we have repeatedly reported, official corruption in the BVI, involving assisting narcotics traffickers and arms smugglers, is rampant, and it is very likely that Fahie's case will result in the indictment of additional officials by the US Department of Justice, as the case unfolds.