Dominica: Former Minister Martin charged with incitement; gets bail

Political activist and former agriculture minister, Athie Martin, appeared at the Roseau magistrate’s court today, Tuesday. He was released on EC$7,500 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) bail Tuesday after he was charged with incitement to block a public road during a protest march the police said was illegal.

Cara Shillingford serves as lead counsel along with Julian Prevost, David Bruney and Joshua Francis on his defense team.

Martin was not required to enter a plea as the matter is an indictable one which will be heard in the High Court. The accused was granted bail in the sum $7,000.00 with Dr Irving Pascal serving as surety.

The charge stems from statements, which according to the charge sheet, were made by Martin at an “unlawful” protest in Roseau in which he asked members of the public to block the road.

Martin was among persons who had participated in the weekend protest march organised by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) in support of electoral reform in Dominica.

Police Commissioner Daniel Carbon Tuesday descried the demonstration on Saturday and Monday as “unlawful,” saying that no permission had been given to the organisers.

Some protesters insist that Martin’s call for a roadblock followed previous requests which they had made to the police to divert traffic from the area in which they were located and which was posing a threat to their safety.

Martin’s matter was adjourned to 1st April 2019.

CCM president, Loftus Durand, Saturday urged supporters to take to streets on Monday until there’s electoral reform here despite last weekend use of tear gas by police to disperse people after they blocked the road demanding that traffic be diverted.

The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) has been calling for electoral reform here and its proposed candidate for the Roseau Valley, Ronald Charles, called on the gathering to “be ready and prepared” for the long haul.