ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Former Dominica prime minister Edison James and former opposition leader Lennox Linton, have been committed to stand trial at the High Court, according to the state’s lawyers.
The state-owned DBS radio announced Friday that the Trinidad-based lawyers prosecuting the case of incitement against the politicians had also named the current leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Dr. Thompson Fontaine.
Edison James (File Photo)
In February this year, James, 80, had been released on EC$50,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) bail after spending an estimated 20 minutes in a holding cell in a magistrate’s court after he had been committed to stand trial in the High Court on a charge of incitement.
James, who served as prime minister between 1995 and 2000, was at the center of the alleged incitement case, including Linton and Fontaine.
The police allege that on February 7, 2O17, at a public meeting entitled” D –DAY OF THE PEOPLE” in Roseau, they did unlawfully incite by encouraging and or persuading or instigating by words or deeds caused persons to come out, gather in groups or act in such a manner as would jeopardize public safety and order and or endanger the public peace and or cause a tumultuous disturbance of the peace in Roseau. “
DBS said that the statement from the lawyers, led by Trinidad-based Senior Counsel Israel Khan, noted on that day that they incited people to assemble in the public meeting after that to commit acts of riotous conduct and breach the public peace. It said stones and bottles were thrown at the police, and business places were damaged.
DBS quoted the statement as saying that the lawyers had indicated that there were challenges prosecuting the case, such as the passage of Hurricane Maria and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, among others, but that they have reached a stage where the matter is now committed to the High court.
Efforts to contact the three accused men’s lawyers have proven futile.
and then 