ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – The leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Dr. Thomson Fontaine, who became the 25th person arrested under the Riot Act for a recent protest, was granted self-bail when he appeared in court on Thursday
Fontaine, accompanied by his lawyers, reported to Police Headquarters in the capital city of Roseau at the police’s request.
Like the 24 others before him, he was charged with an indictable offense under the Riot Act for an “unlawful assembly” on March 19.
The prosecution did not object to bail or request any reporting conditions. However, they asked for bail to be granted with “a surety,” a position objected to by the defense, which cited others who were also charged and granted “self-bail.”
Before announcing his ruling, Fontaine was asked to “let the judiciary deal with the matter, and he needs to be careful and say nothing until the matter is resolved.”
The prosecution also told the court that all those charged would be combined into one, and the matter will be headed before senior Magistrate Michael Laudat on June 30. The prosecution requested that Fontaine’s matter be also set for that date.
However, the defense said that if that were the case, they would file documents asking Laudat to recuse himself.
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