Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Wheatley Blindsided By CoI Questions On 'Belongership For Convicts'

Wheatley Blindsided By CoI Questions On 'Belongership For Convicts'

Attorney General (AG) Hon. Dawn Smith has accused the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) team of blindsiding Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Hon. Vincent Wheatley on the matter of Cabinet giving consideration to a rapist for belonger status under the Fast Track programme in 2019.

In a three-page letter addressed to Commissioner of the Inquiry, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, dated September 30, AG Smith said the matter created a misleading impression of the true situation and was damaging to the public’s interest and families of the convicts.

She contended that the matter being aired in the public’s domain the way it did, was avoidable and she said it also appeared to have been raised in a way “that not only violated your own protocols and the essential assurances on which confidential government documents are disclosed to you but also prevented the minister from being able to present the facts on a matter that was bound to be of acute public concern.”

CoI Breached Confidentiality Protocol


AG Smith further said, in her opinion, the CoI breached the confidentiality and its own protocols by disclosing the contents of the Cabinet Minutes to the public before seeking Cabinet’s consent first.

“The minute is a Cabinet document, which attracts Cabinet confidentiality under the vital public interest and constitutional principle of collective ministerial responsibility. Those, I represent disclosed the minute voluntarily to the COI team alone on an expressly confidential basis and in the reliance of the assurances in given in the COI protocols of die "safeguard" provided by the two-stage disclosure process,” she continued.

Furthermore, AG Smith said Counsel to the Commission Mr. Bilal Rawat did not inform the Commissioner nor the Solicitor General Mrs. Jo-Ann Williams- Roberts, who was representing her, that Cabinet had not waived the confidentiality of the document, nor was she given an opportunity to make submissions on the issue, or given a copy of the said minutes.

AG Smith then asked for the Commissioner to confirm whether it was done by accident and requested the assurance that in the future, the CoI team would not use Cabinet papers at public hearings or make them public without having prior consent to so do.

Blindsided Minister


Hon. Smith went on to say that Minister Wheatley had not been pre-warned of the issue.

She said: “No notice of criticism. The Minister had no advance warning that he would be questioned in relation to the minute: the minute was not included in the advance bundle, and he was not handed a copy of it prior to the hearing. Criticisms were put to the Minister in relation to the minute without having been included in his warning letter. No explanation has been given for why he was not so warned.”

She also pointed out that during the delay in calling the minister to testify, he could have been given the said document to peruse, but that was not done.

She added: “Alternatively, and given the seriousness of the criticisms, the Minister could have been recalled on another day, as have other witnesses in this Inquiry. But the Minister was questioned at length and in detail about the Application. We will write separately in relation to the criticisms made. Those lines of questioning deployed were not appropriate. For example, the Minister was asked: "how is it that you cannot remember if you granted a rapist Belonger status or not".

According to the AG, even allowing for a degree of forensic enthusiasm, this was unfair in the circumstances since the Minister had not been given the opportunity to remind himself of the facts and would obviously not want to provide evidence to the Inquiry that he had not verified, particularly on such a sensitive matter. Furthermore, the tone and manner of the questioning were prosecutorial and accusatory.”

AG Smith said while she accepts that, in general, it is in the public interest to have the hearings public, some misconceptions may arise among members of the public of matters that are under active discussion.

She also sought to set the record straight that neither criminals were granted belonger status nor were they under consideration.

She pointed out that the damage has already been done and referred to the many social media posts to prove it as if the government had, in fact granted the criminal pair with belonger status.

“The misleading impression caused by this approach is damaging to the public interest. The effect has been needlessly to undermine public confidence in the willingness of the Government and the administration to protect their security. It could hardly have done more damage to public perception of Government as a whole if it had been calculated to do so. Furthermore, these revelations have prejudiced the rights to privacy and administrative fairness of the individuals and victims concerned, which should have been the predictable conclusion of any responsible reflection on this matter,” the AG stated.

She said with these persons easily identified because of the smallness of the territory, could result in acute distress to the families and persons involved.

“I very much regret having to write to you in this vein. However, the importance of the subject compels me to do so. Finally, in the exceptional circumstances of this matter, and to clarify the misleading impressions to which these events have given rise, I have decided that this letter should be made public,” the AG pointed out.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
×