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Mohameds seek stay of extradition hearing pending appeal of Authority to Proceed
(Kaieteur News) – The defence team representing Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, has filed an application in the Court of Appeal, seeking to stay the extradition proceedings currently underway at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The application was filed on February 5, 2026, by defence attorneys Roysdale Forde SC, Siand Dhurjon and Damien Da Silva. The action is brought against Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC, and Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman.
The appeal stems from high court proceedings involving a judicial review challenge to the Minister of Home Affairs’ Authority to Proceed (ATP) in the extradition case, as well as a constitutional challenge to sections of the Fugitive Offenders (Amendment) Act 2009. On February 4, 2026, the high court dismissed the judicial review application, which had alleged bias by the government, particularly by Minister Walrond.
Father and Son (left) Nazar and Opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed
In documents released on Friday, the defence is seeking a stay of the committal proceedings for extradition until the determination of the substantive appeal. The lawyers are also requesting urgent hearing of the matter, along with additional orders including treating exhibits attached to the affidavit as the official record of appeal, and potentially treating the hearing of the stay application as the hearing of the substantive appeal if the court deems it appropriate.
The defence argues that the application is grounded in alleged breaches of natural justice and claims the ATP issued on October 30, 2025, is unlawful, unreasonable, arbitrary and an abuse of power. The filing also seeks orders to quash the ATP through certiorari (order by which a higher court reviews a case tried in a lower court).
Further, the defence contends there is political bias, noting that the minister is a member of the governing PPP/C, while Azruddin Mohamed is an opposition figure who has publicly criticised the government, including the president, vice president and attorney general. The filing also alleges errors in law and fact by the lower court which, the defence claims, resulted in a miscarriage of justice. “It is submitted that the decision of the learned judge in the court below was premised on a number of errors of law and of fact which operated altogether to miscarry justice,” the application stated.
The lawyers further argued that the alleged bias by state officials renders the ATP null and void, citing breaches of the rule of natural justice, particularly the principle of nemo judex in sua causa (no one should be a judge in their own cause).
The Mohameds are facing a federal indictment in Miami, United States, following the unsealing of a 25-page indictment on October 2, 2025. The indictment alleges a wide-ranging fraud and money-laundering scheme involving gold exports, customs fraud, bribery, and the evasion of millions of dollars in taxes and royalties owed to Guyana.
Following a formal request from the United States, Minister Walrond signed the Authority to Proceed, allowing the extradition matter to proceed before the magistrates’ court. If sufficient evidence is established during committal proceedings, the magistrate could order the Mohameds’ extradition to face charges in the United States.
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