Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman ruled again today not to revoke the bail of the Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed in the ongoing extradition proceedings, stating that there were not substantial grounds for the bail to be revoked.

“I do not find any substantial grounds for revoking bail of Mr. Azruddin Mohamed either in string of offences or charges that are now engaging the Courts in Guyana,” Chief Magistrate Latchman ruled.

She said while Mohamed is the defendant in those matters, charges without more, do not satisfy the Court that he has committed an offence or is likely to commit an offence. She said there must be “something substantial” to satisfy the Court that the defendant has committed an offence or is likely to commit an offence.

Mohamed, however, remains remanded in the CCTV video leak case.

In making a case for bail to be revoked, Special Prosecutor Glen Hanoman argued that Mohamed is currently before the Courts for multiple offences, which have been thoroughly investigated by the police.

Those offences include attempting to obstruct the course of justice, witness tampering, possession of firearm without a license and illegal possession of ammunition.

According to the Special Prosecutor before those charges were laid, the Police sought the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He cited the recent case in which the Opposition Leader and two of his staffers were charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice in relation to their presence outside the home of the Head of the Special Branch Prem Narine who is a witness in the extradition matter.

“It shows a pattern of someone who has no regard for the Courts,” Hannoman said while adding that the privileges given to him in the extradition proceedings are being abused.

The Special Prosecutor also made reference to Mohamed releasing the leaked CCTV video recordings from the Police Force’s Command Centre, claiming that sections of the footage were edited.

Additionally, he submitted to the Court that Mohamed was likely to be charged for the 2021 murder of Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes.

“He is the suspect in a murder investigation of the murder of Ricardo Fagundes…There is strong and compelling evidence that supports a murder charge. Statements from his conspirators have already been taken,” the Special Prosecutor told the Court.

He said the evidence before the Court was enough to revoke the bail granted to the Opposition Leader in the extradition proceedings.

But Defence Attorney, Siand Dhurjon before rubbishing the submissions made by the Special Prosecutor, informed the Court that a High Court application has been filed challenging the decision of the Magistrate Abigail Gibbs not to grant the Opposition Leader bail in the case involving the unauthorized downloading and dissemination of the Safe Country CCTV recordings.

That matter is expected to be heard in the High Court tomorrow at 10am.

Dhurjon told the Magistrate that she had already made a definitive ruling on the issue of bail, and should not deviate from her earlier decision.

He said contrary to the arguments made by Hanoman, none of the offences for which Mohamed is before the Courts are deemed serious. Serious offences attract jail time of more than 5 years.

Addressing the issue of murder, Dhurjon told the Court that five years after the murder of Fagundes, the Prosecution is now seeking to suggest that his client is likely to be charged for the offence although he has never been questioned by the police in connection with the murder case.

“Five years after the regrettable killing of Mr. Fagundes, Mr. Hanoman is saying that he is aware that there is compelling evidence but yet they are still awaiting advice. It has been in the news that this matter gone back and forth like table tennis between the DPP and the Police…We know that Mr. Mohamed has never been questioned, never been arrested, never been contacted by the police across the five years,” Dhurjon told the Court.

Dhurjon called on the Court to reject the application by the Prosecution.

Jumping to his feet, Hanoman again sought to convince the Court that Mohamed is facing serious charges, but he had difficulty supporting his arguments, after he was called on by the Court to cite the specific offences that are deemed to be serious and the corresponding laws.

It was then that he again told the Court that the Opposition Leader was likely to be charged with the serious offence of murder.

He said the bribery and corruption charges were the underlying issues, explaining that that Mohamed was shielded and protected, hence he was not charged in the past.

As Hanoman addressed the court, the father of the Opposition Leader, Nazar Mohamed, who is also before the court in the extradition case, had an outburst.

From his seat, Nazar Mohamed shouted “He is innocent of all these charges” as he broke down in tears. He was urged to contained his self.

Hanoman further told the Court that the Opposition Leader was a flight risk, and suggested to the Court that he provided false information to the police regarding his place of residence.

However, Defence Attorney, Roysdale Forde also called on the Court to reject the Prosecution’s application. The application for bail to be revoked in the ongoing extradition matter was rejected by the Court.

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