United Workers Party (UWP) Dr. Thomson Fontaine, who became the 25th person arrested under the Riot Act for the March 19, 2025, protest, has been granted self-bail by Magistrate Dilhaniel Rupasinghe on April 10, 2025.
Dr. Fontaine, accompanied by his lawyers, Goffery Letang and Joshua Francis, reported to Police Headquarters in the capital city of Roseau on April 10, 2025, 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, 2025.
The prosecution, headed by Sergeant Boycott Yankey, 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.”
Magistrate Rupasinghe, before announcing his ruling, cautioned Dr. Fontaine 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, 2025, and requested that Dr. Fontaine’s matter be also set for that date.
However, the defense said if that was the case, they would be filing documents asking Magistrate Laudat to recuse himself.
Magistrate Rupasinghe then granted bail to Dr. Fontaine of EC$25,000.00 and adjourned the matter until July 10, 2025, when he will deal with it.