‘Rogue’ public officer arrested and charged five months later
The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) has formally charged the “rogue” public officer who reportedly sent a diplomatic note to the United States (US) courts to help free disgraced former Premier, Andrew Fahie.
Najan Christopher was arrested and charged yesterday, October 10, for breach of trust by a public officer and false assumption of authority.
“She was granted bail in the sum of $5,000 to appear before Magistrate’s Court on November 30,” the RVIPF said in brief press statement Tuesday morning.
News of the charges come five months after reports of Christopher’s alleged actions surfaced within the public domain.
The diplomatic note in question purports to endorse Fahie’s notice to the US courts that he is immune from arrest and prosecution.
The letter dated May 3 — which bears the letterhead of the Office of the Premier and is stamped by the International Affairs Secretariat — not only endorses the Premier’s argument for diplomatic immunity but also requests his immediate and unconditional release from US custody.
That immunity argument put forward by his attorney Theresa Van Vliet has since been shot down by US Attorney’s Office.
At the time, Premier Wheatley disavowed the letter and said the contents of the letter regarding “does not reflect the position of the Premier’s Office or the government of the Virgin Islands”.
“It appears that the preparation and sending out of the correspondence were the actions of a rogue public officer who acted without authorisation or the knowledge of myself as Acting Premier or the Permanent Secretary,” Dr Wheatley said in an emergency statement aired on radio and on the government’s official Facebook page.
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This is a situation where the messenger gets shot for unfortunate situation of the former Premier.
Firstly, the PS was not on the island to give permission to the her holding the role she held handling diplomatic travel etc.
Secondly, the Deputy Premier at the time who is now the Premier was also unavailable during the emergency call that Premier Fahie had been arrested. So she made the call on her own to assist in the diplomatic role that she played in the Premier’s Office.
Now she is being judged for doing her job.
Don’t you dare worry Najan, this country will be set free sooner rather than later.
People like you who shows no interest in party politics but just execute your role with integrity will prevail.
Unlike the bold face l**ng governor that the UK sent here to bring down this country.
Awesome!!
Dear Governor,
Please make way for the expansion of His Majesty’s Prison to make room for a third of the Belonger population of the BVI. All politicians, the department heads and assistants of each and every government agency, the corrupt owners of businesses that paid to get government contracts, all insurance company owners, all telecom owners/managers and all corrupt police, customs and immigration workers. Perhaps it will be more than 1/3. It will be a good start.
Something tells me that she did not act without the knowledge or approval of other persons
It is we the locals bringing down the country. Stop blaming the Governor for our bad behavior.
As a BVIlander, BY both BIRTH AND GENERATIONAL DESCENT, I am sick to my stomach my many of my fellow countrymen, the country is DEAD BROKE and falling apart at the seams with social issues, criminality lack of accountability and more than our fair share of good old fashion theft. YOU jokers defend EVERY and ANY act of wrong doing because they are your friends. This lady was very wrong in this situation, she simply did not have the authority to write this correspondence and she hid that she was doing it. We only know it was written because we have access the the US court documents where it was submitted.
Fellow BVIlanders if you keep condoning and defending wrong doing it won’t we long before we don’t even have a country. Our biggest problem is not SLAVERY 200 years ago not the UK today it is the dishonesty of OUR OWN PEOPLE
She one of them who feel they have the right to do what they want. She plant a seed of destruction. Look now she bring herself down but girl despite you flaws god will restore you. Just ride out you storm.
Are you kidding me right now? Regardless of her “role” the allegations against the former Premier far exceeded Ms. Christopher’s pay grade. Common sense should’ve dictated that she refer the matter to the Governor’s office without hesitation.
breach of trust by a public officer and false assumption of authority.
—————————————————
These charges appears somewhat weak and open ot interpretation. I am sure some good lawyer could make good headway in court to get a hung jury on either charge.
For one, the accused allegedly stated that the permanent secretary and the then Deputy Premier (current Premier) was aware of her actions, specifically her writing the letter in question.
If true, the questions then becomes why is she alone thus far left holding the bag? Why is she the only person thrown under the bus? If the permanent secretary and the former deputy premier were aware of her actions, why did they not step in?
Part of this case is a she say vs they say granted there is the physical evidence of the written letter. In other words hear say, and as I indicated earlier, a good lawyer could potentially create reasonable doubt here.
If I was that lawyer, I would definitely want to subpoena the current Premier and the Permanent secretary to appear in court, and have them testify under oath. Lets hear what they knew and when, and what actions they took if any in response.
On another note, one could argue that the accused in all earnest believed wholeheartedly that the former Premier did indeed have diplomatic immunity under the circumstances and her actions were in keeping with that belief with no criminal intent even if factually it turned out she was wrong in her interpretation and understanding.
The bottom line for me just reading this report impartially is that these charges are weak, and potentially are open to interpretation which could lead to a hung jury.
I would say this however: one has to be very careful coming to the defense of others when they get in trouble with the law be it a friend, family member, co-worker or what ever other relationship you have with that person.
Do not let your emotions get in the way of your decision making. Its not as easy or simply to not come to the aid of someone you know, but its best imo to sleep on any decision to assist, and never make that decision in haste.
Never put your loyalty to others over the possibility that you may become ensnarled in their alleged crimes indirectly and potentially place your self in trouble with the law.
Always under these difficult circumstances never overstep your authority and put yourself in harms way to protect others. Think self preservation. Ask yourself, would they do the same for you? Is it right, is your help worth the effort, or would your actions place you in legal jeopardy.
Bottom line for me is this: I’m my unbiased view, I am not seeing much of a crime here. What I am more seeing is a person who may have overstepped her authority based on a false assumption.
I don’t see a crime here worthy of jail time. I do perhaps see a case if proven that she may have overstepped her authority worthy of a reprimand, demotion, or possible termination, but a trip to Balsum Ghut…nah.
Her case is a teachable moment and one we can all learn from.
Sounds like you are part of the problem.
You good in your head? You and Najan must have ridden to school on the same bus because y’all don’t have two brain cells to put together to determine sense from nonsense. Common sense alone says that if he has been arrested, he must not be able to give directives as is customary and she needs to seek counsel BEFORE following any such directive. Further to that… She was doing her job? Her job as a civil servant, is to act in the interest of the public. Due diligence is a requirement.
The only person in the UK and its colonies entitled to diplomatic immunity for being a head of state in April/May 2022 was QEII. ALL civil servants must be fully aware of this fact or they will get themselves into serious trouble like this clueless lady in the former Premier’s office.
I agree with BVIslander. The employee should have known better after all her position is a high level one where she would have been called upon to make critical important decisions. However I don’t think that what she did warranted being arrested. Fired maybe or transferred to a different dept.
That woman needs psychological help.
Something does not seem right about this ‘five months later’ lapse of time.
BVIslander you are spot on. It is time for the people of the BVIs to start looking forward instead of behind. Andrew Fahie and Najie Christopher are only symptoms of a much more virulent disease that will only continue to spread until it penetrates every branch of government. Drugs, extortion, rogue police officers are things you see in a country like Haiti and not in a civilized democracy. This country sits on a precipice both socially and politically. I hope for the sake of all islanders that, people can honestly look within and begin making decisions that are in the best interest of the BVIs.
Slo-wander and the PS have claimed publicly they had no prior knowledge of the letter/intent to request diplomatic immunity. Will be interesting to see if both the acting premier and the PS are required to testify and be cross-examined during this case.
What I am more concerned about is how this will affect the public service and those employees whom blindly follow the very whim of politicians even though they may have some doubts.
Nonetheless, the UK would have been the authority to have requested DI for the head coach and not a civil servant regardless of their position/job!
No she is not being judged for doing her job, she is being judged for doing what is/was not her job. She should have communicated the request to the person who had the authority to carry it out. Not take it upon herself. Stop making excuses for bad behavior. That’s what got us here in the first place.
Well she better start singing if that’s the case. And she better have receipts to back it up.
About time we put an end to this Mickey Mouse clubhouse we been running.
close your mouth, you are catching flies..
There is a lot more that will be revealed.
https://rijock.blogspot.com/2022/10/government-has-over-8000-hours-of.html
She toooo damn bright.
How the heck does anything get better if we just transfer our problems around from one department to another? If it was your business and your staff messed up, they got to go. But if it’s the business of the government and they mess up you want to just move them around until they can collect a pension? I don’t think so!
Thats so true when you wrong u wrong.
The British will be ashamed to see such nefarious activities under their banner and will soon seek to change the name from the British VI to something more suitable.
You gotta be part of the “dutty fingaz” crew
It was a stupid decision… Who is she to speak for BVI? Stupidity needs to be punished more around here.
What is going on is important. Its time to clean house and while there will always continue to be corruption, some action to remove those bad apples and some oversight at the same time is good. 50% or more of our revenue comes from tourists. Lets forget the past and work on our future . Lets clean up our island greet our visitors with a big smile and show them the most beautiful place in the world.
All is not lost here! We all can change this!
The Governor is the boss of the civil service. If he is not available, then the Deputy Governor is second in command. She did Andrew a favor because they are friends. I believe that she knew she was doing nonsense, but figured nothing would be done to her. The UK is making an example out of her.
Common sense not so common any more
BVI have a nasty set a people. Heritage said best although we don’t see eye to eye! Kill one to bring in another set a nastiness.
Ayo believe those who bla blaing off them mouth is any better?
Beware of those who already been in those top seats.
1. Myron Walwyn
2. Kedrick Pickering
3. Ronnie Skelton
And all those who will be putting their hat back in the ring.
BVI needs to deal with good people.
Clean them out with all their cronies.
BVI is a common law jurisdiction. I think we need to revisit our definition of that because it seems most people agree this was out of place & something worth firing over but not worth jail time.
This is a good example of why they say on the job not to put yourself on the line for others as you might end up taking the blame. This happens in every type of company.
I get the feeling some of the people are being arrested to recruit them into whatever law enforcement has in mind, who knows.
You clearly have no idea of the meaning of integrity. Not surprising. Many people don’t nowadays. “Integrity” seems to mean whatever the person saying it means which may definitely not be the dictionary or moral definitions of the word or the concept.
At this point we seem to have lost all sense of honour and integrity. Everything is viewed through the lens of who did it. Was it a friend, a relative, someone in the party we support, a Belonger? If so, then it’s fine. We condone wrong and still expect the country to go right. Cognitive dissonance.
I agree with most of what you wrote, and that needed to be said. I just think there is an opportunity here to expand this conversation.
I have been blogging on here for a very long time now, and I have noticed that no matter the allegation, alleged crime, or what would be considered wrongdoing by most, there are people who sees things differently.
I personally don’t take it as a defense to wrong doing in general because there is always the possibility that those persons may have access to exculpatory evidence or contrary knowledge that some of us are not privy to.
However, it does appear to me that there is a lot of condoning of wrong doings in this country. Quite frankly it appears systemic from the top to the bottom of society.
This is society that knows criminals and murderers imo who choose to stay deaf and blind. This is a society who knows who the drug dealers and gun runners are and do the same.
This is a society that where there are magistrates who block extradition to the US of known drug dealers when there is sufficient evidence to justify their extradition just because they could.
This is society where even some law enforcement folks have and are alleged to be involved in drug running themselves and somehow escape accountability.
This is a society where there are big houses all over the hills by owners who one could say does not have the means to build them and are suspected of ill gotten gains, yet no one says anything. I admit that’s a touchy one that could bring trouble your way.
This is a society that knew that the former Premier was allegedly in the drug business yet never outed him. The gun aspect was a surprise to me. Nevertheless, even that knowledge did not prevent his constituents or any other member of society from ratting him out.
They got down on their knees and prayed with him and sang along with him while he played the piano at church all the while calling out the lords name in vain and shouting hallelujah. The devil in their mist, and no one running.
The rot stinks to high heavens and the lack of accountable has been going on for decades, so since we are now talking lets talk the truth. The bad smell from burning garbage is now the only foul scent on the island. Lets be clear it extends to other places as well.
So, I agree with you on that. We all should condemn wrongdoing everywhere as it undermines society and all of us.
As to this matter, I don’t carry water for anyone. I just read or hear the same stories everyone hears or read, and speak what I think is my truth. I’m not here for the likes. However, I welcome them. If I am off, I welcome the dislikes also.
In my opinion, while it may appear this lady did not have the authority to write the correspondence, since this has now become a legal matter, for me I cannot categorically state that:
“This lady was very wrong in this situation, she simply did not have the authority to write this correspondence and she hid that she was doing it” because those facts have not been established to my satisfaction or known to the public.
She will have her day in court on November 30 where the facts of her case will be presented. Until such time, I personally will reserve judgment, as she is entitled to due process and an opportunity to tell her side of the story.
I recognize that many people are upset, rightfully so, with the former premiers alleged actions, and it’s hard right now for anyone associated with him to be heard, but it’s important in my view that everyone accused of something get a fair hearing without pre-judgements.
You have your opinion on this, and I respect that but as I stated earlier, I am not quite there with you on that yet. Ill wait for the court hearing.
While I like to see people held accountable for their wrongdoings inclusive of close to 6 dozen unsolved murders in this small island nation, I also like to be fair in my critique and not pre-judge a case as well.
She may be proven guilty of what she is being accused of, but she deserves an opportunity to have here day in court.
The same goes with the former Premier and the Maynards, who have been accused of serious crimes. On the surface it looks real bad, and I think just the accusations alone has damaged this country, however, I also believe that they are entitled to have a fair trial also. Let the chips fall where they may.
In sum: While I am all for accountability, I am also for fairness as well.
You could tell you’re family/friend.
That’s what’s wrong with this place – always defending wrong because affiliation.
She could take instructions from a prisoner but not the Ag. Deputy Premier, phone the Premier if off island, or contact the Governor or his Deputy??????
Get out of here with that lame excuse.
That last paragraph hit the nail on the head!!!!!
EXAAAACTLY!!!!
It’s sad you are writing God with a common “g”.
Do you spell your name beginning with a common letter?
Respect please.
A lot of people want to have the UK to blame for everything. At some point, people need to take responsibility for their own actions including their shortcomings. Christopher is known to be a smart girl, well-educated, and the daughter of a former legislator. The reality is nothing that she was admired for made her immune to making a mistake or simply taking action against wrongdoing. I absolutely hate that this is happening to her.
But common sense is a funny thing! The best of us don’t always have it.
How many of you would ask someone’s opinion on a matter like that vs How many of you would just act because it’s the Premier?
I would encourage all civil servants to get the ‘servant’ mentality out of their heads. Everything the Minister says is not gold – he/she is a human being at the end of the day and decisions you make could very well cost you big time.
Somewhere along the way, we seemed to have developed this false sense of patriotism.
We want to be ‘free’ from UK but after but 62 years since a local government was founded and we can’t figure out how to simply do right by the people and not a select few.
Obviously, BVI people for some reason aren’t very used to facing consequences. But it’s about time we woke up!
She was fully aware in her capacity but did what she wanted to help that criminal and became a criminal in the process.
You could think whatever you want but it’s a crime and a warrant had to apply the relevant section of the law to arrest and charge her.
This statement of yours is without merit:
“ On another note, one could argue that the accused in all earnest believed wholeheartedly that the former Premier did indeed have diplomatic immunity under the circumstances and her actions were in keeping with that belief with no criminal intent even if factually it turned out she was wrong in her interpretation and understanding.”
Do you realize where she worked? She should know without a doubt whether or not he had diplomatic immunity and even IF she she did not could have verified with the Governor or her contacts in the UK office but that criminal probably told her to keep it under cover.
I have wondered why Premier Fahie did nor ask the Governor, who represented the Queen, to draft the Letter of Diplomatic Immunity on his behalf?
I am not here to defend her. Her lawyer will in court. I am mostly making a case for due process.
Despite I wrote a bible, I am simply suggesting that the facts of this case are not all known, and she should be afforded due process like all other criminally accused.
It’s possible that the former premier may have had had a hand in her actions, but its all speculations at this point.
I do agree that something of this nature should have been vetted at the highest level of government prior to it being done if at all, as what was being sent out there was the official position of the BVI government.
The attorney general should have weighted in on this at least before any letter was sent to the US if at all.
I think its possible that the climate in the Premier’s office being arguable hostile towards the U.K. probably contributed to the lack of consultation if true.
Furthermore, the local governments past and present have always seen themselves separate and somewhat apart from the governor and viewed with some hostility. If you do not respect the chain of power in the government, I can see how things like this can happen.
Hater alert! Hater alert!
Ey kiss all a ayo mudda ra**! Quick to throw rocks and your house full of criminals but you will be kissing the UK ?? a** for a long time back in modern day slavery!
Let’s go UK tek these ba***rds out of their misery!
Lock up all including those in pass administrations like
…
Lock Dem Up UK! ??
They should have just fired her. End of.
If not fahie you are the accused supporter.
because she should of known better not to go and send such a letter off.
She does not hold any position or have dont hold any high office to do such.
If she had feel the need, she should of seek advice before sending off. More likely she acted upon request or owing a favor.
That’s what happens when you worship man. They could do no wrong and you would put your “head on the block” as one supporter says …
This proves the depth of corruption!!
I am glad justice was served in this case!
All for one, while it is meant to be; One for all!
Absolutely no interest in what is best for the people of the BVI!
She is just used to a FAT paycheck to be loyal!
On the matter is that she had no right. Just shows people who think they have right or power to do something they actually don’t.
She should of had better sense to put herself in that situation.
You have a individual name get call with such high case and you gone and put your fast butt in the middle.
Not talking to deputy gov, gov, COP none of them about. Because you is judge Judy to act alone.
How all these arrest and coi outcome taking we will never get better
Up to now no name of gov official 1 ntn
Ddp jus a waste of time. Take years to try one case
You are 100% correct, she is being punished for stepping outside the remit of her job, not for doing her job.
I feel for her as this happens across the board, too many public officers who think their role allows them to act as they see fit even where this comes to reinterpreting laws. Public service needs a clear set of rules, set at the highest level and all officers then being required to follow them as opposed to the current way of working.
That seems to me to be the warranted action. However her action supports the realization that the norm is that Gov workers are overstepping and being unacvountable. Consideing the current atmosphere it is best she is within convenient anf close range …how often regularly has she overstepped and done favors that were serious violations and knowingly for the Premier. How much does she knowc and will she be singing?
… trying to help a drugs criminal avoid his just punishment. God is watching her and she will be punished for helping the de**l.