Caribbean Court of Justice clears way for extradition hearings against Guyana opposition leader
The CCJ rejected Azruddin Mohamed's claim of ministerial bias, returning the US extradition case against him and his father to a Guyanese magistrate.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has cleared the way for extradition proceedings against Guyana's opposition leader, Azruddin Mohamed, ruling that his claims of cabinet bias in the bid to send him to the United States were invalid.
The Trinidad-based court, the region's highest, delivered its ruling on Wednesday. It returned the matter to the Guyanese magistrate's court, which is expected to resume extradition hearings against Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, in the coming weeks.
Bias claim rejected
The Mohameds had asked the CCJ to rule on allegations that the security minister acted with bias when she signed the orders to proceed with their extradition.
"This is, of course, a complicated matter," said Chief Justice Winston Anderson. The judgment was delivered by Justice Denys Barrow.
"There was no requirement for the minister issuing the order to proceed to be free from political bias," Barrow said. "What was required was for the minister to engage in a process that allowed for consideration of the factors contemplated by the act." He said the applicants had not challenged that process beyond alleging political bias.
US charges
The US Treasury Department sanctioned the family, accusing them of smuggling thousands of kilograms of gold to the United States and evading local taxes worth at least US$50 million. The sanctions forced the closure of their gold trading, foreign exchange and real estate businesses.
The Mohameds have also been indicted in the US Southern District of Florida on 11 counts linked to their gold export business, including money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy.
Azruddin Mohamed, 39, was elected opposition leader after last September's general elections. His We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, formed three months before the polls, won 16 of the 65 seats, becoming the second-largest party.
'The fight is still on'
"It is a 256-page judgment. Our lawyers are checking it through," Nazar Mohamed said. "We will be fighting all the way."
Azruddin Mohamed said: "The fight is still on. The CCJ did not rule in our favour, but we respect the court's decision." He claimed the judgment acknowledged statements by government ministers about his family that could have interfered with judicial independence, adding that "the work of the people must continue".
