Prosecution concerned after Mohamed caught lurking near President’s home; Chief Magistrate finds no basis to revoke bail

Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday found no basis to revoke or vary the bail of U.S.-sanctioned and criminally indicted Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed during the ongoing extradition proceedings against him and his father, Nazar Mohamed.

She stressed that the court must be guided by what can be proven rather than what may be suspected.

The issue arose during the extradition hearing after Prosecutor Glenn Hanoman asked the court to determine whether Azruddin Mohamed had breached the conditions of his bail, citing certain provisions of the Bail Act 2022.

The application stemmed from an ongoing police investigation into his presence near President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s private residence at Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD), on Thursday night.

Hanoman said the investigation remained at an early stage, with police seeking to establish whether surveillance was being conducted and what, if anything, may have been planned.

However, the prosecution did not present evidence to the court establishing that Azruddin Azruddin Mohamed had committed an offence. Hanoman maintained that the State was bringing the matter to the Chief Magistrate’s attention for consideration rather than making a formal application for his remand.

The prosecutor, however, argued that Azruddin Mohamed’s detention may be necessary to preserve public order, pointing to the possibility that the investigation could uncover offences as serious as treason, an attempted coup or even an assassination plot.

He asked the court to take the new investigation into consideration when determining whether the Opposition Leader should remain on bail.

However, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, who represents the Mohameds, strongly opposed the application, describing it as “ridiculous, flimsy and without any substance.”

Forde argued that the prosecution had acknowledged that there was currently no evidence linking Azruddin Mohamed to a criminal offence and that police were still investigating the matter.

He contended that before bail could be restricted or revoked, the court had to be satisfied by evidence that a charge was likely to be brought and that the anticipated charge was likely to be serious.

Forde also urged the court to consider Azruddin Mohamed’s position as Opposition Leader, arguing that he has constitutional, legal, political and moral obligations to respond to matters he believes expose corruption and other issues affecting society.

He maintained that there was “absolutely no basis” for the allegation against his client.

While acknowledging that President Ali is entitled to protection and security, the Senior Counsel argued that Azruddin Mohamed’s mere presence near the President’s home did not amount to a criminal offence and could not, on its own, justify the revocation of his bail.

In the end, Chief Magistrate Latchman declined to revoke or vary Azruddin Mohamed’s bail, finding that the prosecution had not placed sufficient evidence before the court to justify such a step

Had the court his bail, he could have been remanded into custody pending the continuation of the proceedings, rather than remaining at liberty subject to his existing bail conditions.

The extradition hearing is set to continue on Monday, September 7, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Proceedings broke at noon on Friday after the Mohameds requested, and were granted, an afternoon break to attend a funeral, although the matter had been scheduled to continue throughout the day.

Mohamed was among three men taken to the Leonora Police Station for questioning on Thursday evening after police intercepted a vehicle near the president’s private residence at Leonora.

Police said ranks acted on reports that occupants of a black Toyota Land Cruiser were operating a drone in the area. The vehicle was stopped along the Windsor Forest Public Road, WCD, where ranks found a DJI drone in the trunk, along with four cellphones.

Mohamed, leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, was travelling in the vehicle with driver Eugene Thorne, 35, and technician Dwayne Ross, 25.

Mohamed denied owning or operating the drone and was later released on self-bail. Ross reportedly told police that the drone belonged to him, while acknowledging that his operator’s licence had expired in 2023.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident nearby, police intercepted another vehicle and questioned its driver, 20-year-old Mario Mohamed.

Follow-up searches at the men’s residences reportedly led to the discovery of a second drone at Ross’s home. The police investigation remains ongoing.