ROSEAU, Dominica, Apr. 10,, 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 request of the police.
He, like the 24 others before him, was charged with an indictable offense under the Riot Act for an “unlawful assembly on March 19.
The prosecution did not object to bail, nor did they request any reporting conditions. However, they requested that bail be granted with “a surety,” a position objected to by the defense, who cited others 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 joint together into one and the matter will be heading before senior Magistrate Michael Laudat on June 30 and requested that Fontaine’s matter be also set for that date.
However, the defense said if that was the case, they would be filing documents asking Laudat to recuse himself.
CMC/dr/kb/2025