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40-year-old Perry Smith, the community activist well known for the Days of Healing initiative, is out on bail tonight for charges related to the State of Emergency regulations. Police say that on May 14th, he was one of the persons who was protesting with FECTAB against Lord Michael Ashcroft.

Smith was arraigned today before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer on the offense of being unable to provide a reasonable explanation for movement outside of curfew hours. According to the cops, at around 8:20 a.m., he assembled with others in front of Channel 5’s Coney Drive headquarters for a protest.

He pleaded not guilty, and the Chief Magistrate then asked him to explain the reason why he was there. He said that he was there for a specific reason and that’s when the Chief Magistrate asked his reason falls within the requirements for restricted movement under the State of Emergency regulations.

She reminded him that the cops were alleging that he was protesting, and he disagreed.

The police alleged that they were on patrol when they spotted him standing in front of Channel 5’s headquarters. The cops say that they questioned him about his reason for being there, and that’s when he allegedly told them that he saw his friend who works in the Tourism Industry and that he was going to join that friend.

Smith disagreed with that account, and told the court, quote, “I saw Ashcroft out at Channel 5 so I went there to see him, personally.â€￾ End quote.

Because he insists that he had a valid reason for being at that location, Chief Magistrate Frazer entered him into a not-guilty plea.

Since he was on police bail, he was allowed to leave after the arraignment. He must return to court on August 5th.