…clears way for committal proceedings to resume tomorrow
The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Tuesday rejected the latest attempt by United States sanctioned and indicted Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, to halt extradition proceedings against them.
The development clears the way for the committal proceedings before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman to continue on Thursday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Guyana Times was reliably informed that the Mohameds had applied to the CCJ for special leave to appeal the August 27 ruling of the Court of Appeal, which allowed the extradition committal proceedings before the Magistrates’ Courts to continue.
The application comes as the Court of Appeal considers their constitutional challenge to certain provisions of the Fugitive Offenders (Amendment) Act.
The CCJ dismissed the application for special leave and refused the other reliefs sought by the father and son. The decision follows several unsuccessful attempts by the Mohameds to have the extradition proceedings suspended at the Magistrates’ Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and, most recently, the CCJ.
Their latest application arose from a constitutional challenge filed with the Court of Appeal to aspects of the Fugitive Offenders (Amendment) Act, following a February ruling by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh.
In that ruling, Justice Singh found that Section 8(3)(B) of the Act was inconsistent with the Constitution of Guyana, while upholding the constitutionality of the other provisions challenged by the Mohameds.
The father and son subsequently returned to the Court of Appeal seeking a stay of the proceedings before Magistrate Latchman pending determination of their substantive constitutional appeal.
At that hearing, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, who represented the Mohameds, argued that an interim stay was necessary to ensure their appeal could be meaningfully heard without their liberty being affected before the constitutional questions were resolved.
The State, led by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, opposed the application and urged the Court of Appeal to allow the extradition proceedings to continue.
The State opposed the application on the basis that allowing the Magistrates’ Court proceedings to continue would not undermine the Mohameds’ constitutional appeal or result in their immediate surrender to the United States.
It argued that the men would retain access to legal safeguards, including appellate review, habeas corpus and bail, while another stay would cause further delays to the already interrupted extradition proceedings. The Court of Appeal subsequently allowed the committal proceedings before Magistrate Latchman to continue, but barred her from making any final disposition in the matter pending the determination of the constitutional matter.
The latest development before the CCJ now removes another attempt by the Mohameds to interrupt those proceedings. The CCJ had previously granted an interim stay on March 25, 2026, temporarily halting the extradition proceedings while it considered the Mohameds’ appeal challenging the Authority to Proceed (ATP) on grounds of alleged political bias.
The stay remained in effect until July 29, 2026, when the CCJ dismissed the appeal and discharged the interim stay, clearing the way for the proceedings before the Magistrates’ Court to resume.
The extradition proceedings stem from a formal request made by the United States in October 2025 for the surrender of Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed.
A US federal grand jury in Florida indicted the two men on allegations including wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and customs violations.
The US is seeking their extradition to face prosecution on the federal charges. The allegations are linked to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax-evasion scheme.
US prosecutors have alleged that the men evaded taxes and royalties on more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold through falsified customs declarations and the reuse of export seals.
The Mohameds have denied the allegations. They have remained on $150,000 bail each since their arrest in October 2025, with conditions requiring them to surrender their passports and report weekly to the Ruimveldt Police Station.
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