On Thurday, a first set of “walkers” were taken to court in Dominica, including the main organizer of the walks, Athie Martin and the country’s Opposition Leader Lennox Linton.
The protest walks have been taking place every Wednesday and has been dubbed “Walk for Peace, Prosperity and Freedom.” Led by Martin, it has organized by a group of individuals representing political parties, the private sector, religious and civil society organizations calling for good and accountable governance on the island.
Martin said there is no legal basis for such court action.
“It is our view and our legal advice is that there is no real basis under law, certaily not under the constitution,” he said on Wednesday. “So we are going tomorrow to present our concerns about this to the police.”
Linton believes the court action is a sign that Dominicans are living in what he described as “a tyranny.”
“We are living in a tyranny,” he stated. “This is the rule of tyrants.”
The “walkers” were serve summons to appear in court for taking part in the walks which the police said was done without the permission of the Commissioner of Police and was contrary to the Public Order Act Chapter 15:01 of the Revised Law of Dominica.
Those who appeared before magistrate Pearl Williams pleaded not guilty to charge and the matter was adjourned to October 14, 2022 for reporting since the police prosecution told the court that the office of the Director of Prosecution is reviewing it and the court will be better informed on the way forward on that specific date.
