Mohamed’s mother moves to High Court to seek his bail

Bonita Mohamed, the mother of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, has filed an application at the High Court in Demerara, seeking to quash a magistrate’s decision to remand her son to prison and secure his release on bail in the Cybercrime Act case involving Police Constable Ryan Greene.

The fixed-date application, filed on November 2, 2026, names the Director of Public Prosecutions, Magistrate Abigail Gibbs and the Attorney General as respondents. It seeks an order of certiorari quashing Gibbs’s October 30 decision refusing Mohamed bail, and his admission to bail on terms set by the court.

Mohamed was jointly charged with Greene with unlawfully obtaining and sharing electronic data, specifically police CCTV footage relating to the October 12 shooting incident at the Barr Street, Kitty, Georgetown residence of Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine, head of the Special Branch Unit.

The charge alleged that the footage was obtained from the Police Force Command Centre and given to Mohamed without lawful excuse or justification.

They pleaded not guilty and were remanded to prison until November 24.

In an affidavit supporting the application, Bonita Mohamed argued that the magistrate misinterpreted the Cybercrime Act. She contended that the prosecution’s particulars identify Azruddin Mohamed as the recipient of the footage, rather than the person who accessed the protected computer system.

“The prosecution’s own particulars identify the Applicant as the recipient of the electronic data and not the person who obtained the data from the protected computer system and gave it to another,” the affidavit stated.

It argued that the offence required proof that the accused obtained or accessed electronic data stored on a computer system protected against unauthorised access and intentionally gave it to another person. The applicant’s position is that receiving the footage does not establish the offence.

The affidavit contended that the provision requires the prosecution to establish the absence of lawful justification in the act of giving or granting access to the data, rather than in its receipt or acquisition.

The application maintained that Mohamed had lawful justification for receiving and disclosing the recordings because they were captured by public cameras and were relevant to his defence in the charges arising from the October 12 incident. It said the footage challenged aspects of the Government’s account.

According to the affidavit, the recordings showed Mohamed’s vehicle travelling at a “calm and courteous speed” before an abrupt interception. It also stated that an “unlicensed firearm was found in the car” only after a search more than two hours later.

The affidavit gives Mohamed’s account of the October 12 incident, alleging that police vehicles followed his car, that Narine emerged from a police pickup with a gun and fired towards the vehicle, and that officers later forced the occupants out and subdued him.

Bonita Mohamed challenged the decision to remand him for 25 days, until November 24, arguing that this exceeded the 21-day limit under the Criminal Law Procedure (Paper Committals) Act 2024. She said the magistrate failed to give adequate reasons for refusing bail and did not properly weigh the presumption of innocence, Mohamed’s previous compliance with bail conditions, fixed residence and family responsibilities.

The affidavit alleged apparent bias, claiming that Magistrate Gibbs and Deputy Superintendent of Police Jamine Bacon, an investigating officer in the October 12 incident, have a longstanding romantic relationship and are engaged to be married.

It argued that this created a reasonable apprehension that the bail decision might not have been impartial.

The application described Mohamed’s conditions at Lusignan Prison as “cruel and inhumane”, alleging that he is held alone, in a hot, poorly ventilated cell without windows or meaningful social interaction.

The application is set to be heard at 9am on Wednesday before Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif at the High Court in Demerara.