Dear Editor,
It is with an acute sense of outrage and utter disbelief that I write to condemn the staggering incompetence displayed by Guyana’s government prosecuting team handling the extradition proceedings of father and son, Shell & Azruddin Mohamed. The recent revelation that the case was erroneously filed in the Magistrate’s Court, a court with no jurisdiction to hear such matters, is not merely a minor administrative error; it is a catastrophic failure of basic legal procedure that undermines the entire administration of justice and insults the intelligence of the Guyanese people. This raises many questions but before I ask, I digress for context.
Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, is poised to be Guyana’s political opposition leader come Monday, November 3rd, 2025. Seemingly and with haste, Magistrate Judy Latchman was provided information from the prosecuting team that necessitated her signing that arrest warrant for the father & son duo. The lightning fast “fast tracking “of this extradition process leaves the public to only conclude that this paradigm was politically motivated. Why? Well, if the Mohamed’s extradition was hurriedly done over this weekend, he, Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, could not have attended/ be sworn into parliament as an MP, come Monday, AND, by extension could not have been voted in as leader of the opposition (LOO). His non entry into parliament would have engendered a chaotic, unheard-of fiasco, to vote in a LOO. The public cannot help but think this was the end game of the ruling party. Thankfully, the Mohameds defense team highlighted the administrative error and bail was determined.
Editor, this is not a matter of complex legal nuance. The extradition act is clear on the proper forum for such proceedings. To have bungled this most fundamental step reveals a level of negligence that is simply unacceptable from a sitting government. This error has immediate and severe consequences including squandering of tax dollars and international embarrassment.
Our Guyana constitution guarantees due process to every individual and it is my fervent hope that the Mohamed’s will be afforded such and not suffer a “Kangaroo Court”, action in Guyana.