Premier Honourable Andrew Fahie has requested for immediate release from federal detention on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
This is according to a report published by Offshore Alert which said that the premier’s attorney Theresa Van Vliet filed a ‘Notice of Invocation of Immunity’ in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida today Monday May 2.
In the notice it said Premier Fahie, “hereby notices his invocation of all rights of and to immunity under international and domestic law, as the duly elected and sitting head of government of the Virgin Islands, a British Overseas Territory, including but not limited to immunity from arrest and detention, entitling him to immediate and unconditional release from detention by the United States.”
It is unclear whether the notice will be accepted as the premier and the Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority Mrs. Oleanvine Maynard along with her son Kadeem Maynard are facing serious charges of “conspiring to import more than five kilos of cocaine into the United States and conspiring to commit money laundering.”
At the premier’s last court appearance on Friday, Judge John Goodman set a pre-trial detention hearing for Wednesday May 4 and his arraignment for May 13.