GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Principal magistrate Judy Latchman is expected to continue hearing arguments on Friday after she dismissed a motion filed by Azruddin Mohamed to adjourn his extradition committal hearing on the grounds that he had budgetary responsibilities as Opposition Leader in the ongoing budget debate in Guyana.
The Mohameds and their lawyers outside the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on ThursdayMohammed, the leader of the main opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, along with his billionaire businessman father, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for allegedly smuggling more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold worth more than US$50 million and in the process failing to pay the relevant taxes to the Guyana government.
Last October, a US Federal Grand Jury unsealed a 11-count indictment on the Mohameds for alleged wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. Subsequently, the US requested his extradition to face trial for those alleged crimes.
Principal Magistrate Latchman had set February 5 for the continuation of extradition committal hearings even as the Mohameds are also challenging the validity of the extradition request in two separate civil cases in the High Court.
When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, his attorney, Siand Dhurjon told the court that “it is his constitutional duty, Madam, as Leader of the Opposition and as a Member of Parliament to be able to dedicate his focus and his energies at least during this period, which is this week and next week, Madam, because next week as well they would be involved in the consideration of estimates line by line.
“If you will, Madam, so we would admit, Madam, that it would be in the public interest for this adjournment to be facilitated,” Dhurjon said.
But after hearing the arguments of the Jamaican attorney, Terrence Williams, who is representing the US interests in the proceedings, the magistrate ruled that the case would continue as scheduled.
“With respect to the adjournment…let us proceed with the matter. We have to proceed with this matter on today’s date. We will also proceed with the matter tomorrow (Friday),” the Principal Magistrate said.
Before the ruling, Dhurjonsaid Mohamed was not merely required to recite a speech before the National Assembly but he needed to be present to glean the salient points from the hours of discourse and respond to concerns raised by the government side.
He deemed as “unfair” to go ahead with the committal proceedings, saying also that Mohamed informed him that he had a migraine and he was on “certain medication”.
But Williams said he opposed the request for adjournment “even if every day that we come to the battle” whenever such is made. He said the proceedings would not be lasting long and there would be no conflict between the morning court sitting and the late afternoon parliamentary sittings that Mohamed would have to attend.
That includes Friday’s sitting when he is due to speak late in the day.
“But as a matter of law, this is the public interest we respectfully submit ought to weigh heavily in favour of this state abiding by its treaty obligations,” Williams said, adding that the extradition request was based on a treaty with the US and so the matter should be treated with “reasonable expedition.
”As a matter of law, it has never been the case where sittings of Parliament trump the proceedings in a criminal court. It has never been the case,” he said, further arguing that the criminal court has, as a constitutional matter, its supremacy regarding its own sittings and its own proceedings.
