ROSEAU, Dominica, Feb 7, CMC – Former prime minister Edison James has accused two senior officials of the Dominica government, including Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of “driving” the decision to have several people before the courts on charges of inciting violence and obstructing justice.
James, along with the leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Dr. Thomson Fontaine, and former party leader, Lennox Linton, are before the court here on charges related to an incident that occurred on February 7, 2017. The charges against Joshua Francis, Nicholas George, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Joseph Isaac, have been adjourned sine die.
Police said that following a public meeting of the party held in the capital, several businesses were vandalized.
Speaking to reporters after the latest adjournment of the matter, James, who served as prime minister from 1995-to 2000, said he believes that Prime Minister Skerrit and his National Security Minister, Rayburn Blacckmoore, as “driving” charges against the opposition politicians.
“There was a comment made in the court today that the government cannot be against the people. What we have is a situation in which the government, represented by Roosevelt Skerrit and Rayburn Blackmoore, is against the people of Dominica,” he said.
James said the origin of the court matters arose from us exercising our democratic rights to push for electoral reform in our country.
“So that when we tell you about the significance of electoral reform and the fight we have been having, you need to take it seriously, “James said, adding that he was calling on leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) “to stand up” on the issue of electoral reform.
“Those same people when we protested, they sent their troops here to kill us, while all of them have electoral reform in their countries. It cannot be right and I am saying to you, the local media….to pay attention and call on your colleagues in the media to speak to CARICOM because our leader here has told us that CARICOM is involved in preventing us from getting proper electoral reform and therefore for us to have free and fair elections”.
Last month, Prime Minister Skerrit told a town hall meeting that his administration is fully supportive of the electoral reform proposals including allowing state media to provide coverage to all political parties and independent candidates.
But Skerrit said that the country should be mindful that electoral reform requires collaboration, understanding, and above all compromise.
“In addressing this issue of electoral reform we have to acknowledge that no single side will achieve all of its desires, outcomes, or interests. Instead, everyone involved will need to make compromises so that the final decision is fair and it puts the common good above individual preferences,” he added.
In June 2023, the former president of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Sir Dennis Byron, submitted a report on electoral reform to the Dominica government.
Sir Dennis had been the sole commissioner advancing the efforts towards electoral reform, a major issue here with the opposition parties, the UWP and the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) boycotting the last general election.
The boycott led to the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) securing 19 of the 21 seats, with the remainder going to independent candidates.
Meanwhile, Fontaine said he believes that in the eight-year-old matter before the courts, in the end, those accused will prevail because they have done nothing wrong and are not criminals.
“This is, I keep saying, is not about the judiciary it about politics, there is no merit in this case as it was demonstrated…,” he told reporters, adding that the prosecution is having a hard time telling the judge what exactly they were charged with.
“The prosecution is saying that we are charged with incitement but incitement to do what?” he said.
“Incitement cannot be a charge and so a lot of time was spent trying to describe that. At the end of the day we were not arraigned as the prosecution would have wanted, the charges were not read to us.”
The case is expected to be called again on February 27 after defense attorneys put forward objections to the charges being read and written submissions done.
The judge will then decide whether it should be squashed or not and Fontaine believes it should be squashed because the charges are “bogus and trumped up, all to tie us up.
“And I believe that all of Dominica is saying that this case should be squashed,” he said.
“It is not fair that for outstanding citizens like me, Mr James, and Mr. Linton who were simply trying to remove a corrupt and deceitful government, they are finding a way through the courts to get back at us. That’s what that is.
“We believe at the end of the day we will prevail. We have done nothing wrong and the court will eventually prove to the people of Dominica that we are not criminals. Do we look like criminals to you?”
Both Fontaine and Linton said the government was spending millions of dollars (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) hiring attorneys from Trinidad and Tobago led by Senior Counsel Israel Khan, in prosecuting the case against the accused.
“I will say finally that it is morally wrong that this government is spending millions of dollars prosecuting outstanding citizens when today we have persons on remand at the state prison for over eight years.
“Why not use those resources to make sure that people get a speedy trial? Why not use those resources to clean up the judicial system that is squeezing the poor people?,” he added.
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