Former IMF official, Dr. Thompson Fontaine, revealed in a recent media interview that the Skerrit administration is all out to disgrace him. He said the Dominican government is plotting to detain him for a crime he did not commit, knowing fully well the move would bring international embarrassment to him.
Fontaine is the Senior Economic and International Policy Adviser on the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission. He was in 2017 appointed to the team that would ensure a peaceful resolution of conflicts in South Sudan, which achieved independence in 2011.
Fontaine, together with Opposition Leader Lennox Linton and former Prime Minister Edison James among other UWP members were accused of inciting public unrest in 2018. The group was accused of stirring up a riot calling for the resignation of PM Skerrit after a February 2017 meeting in Roseau. This action was cited to be contrary to law and a breach of public peace as well as an endangerment of public safety.
Fontaine was served a court paper and summoned to appear in court. Former Prime Minister Edison James who lives in Barbados now was not served any court papers but equally charged by the government. Fontaine was charged to be in court in March 2019 but was absent, and his lawyer Gildon Richards could not explain away his absence. Then at the request of the prosecution, Magistrate Asquith Riviere issued a warrant for his arrest.
But the senior government official said he is innocent of any charges. He said he was away at Q-95 broadcasting in a studio at the time the event he was accused took place. He insisted he did not take part in any riot staged against PM Skerrit and it is as if the government is out to embarrass him.
According to him, returning to Dominica at this time spells trouble for him because he is sure to be arrested.
“I will be bailed, yes, but they are going to take my passport away from me and say I have to stay until the case is called,” Fontaine stated. “I see that as a very delicate ploy, it is a trap.”
This article is copyright © 2019 DOM767
