Guyana Magistrate Defers Ruling On Treaty Issue In Mohamed Extradition Case

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thurs. Sept. 3, 2026: Guyana’s Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman earlier today deferred a ruling on further examination of a senior government official in the ongoing United States extradition case against Guyana’s opposition leader and businessman Azruddin Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, after defence lawyers argued the questioning was tied to a separate matter currently before the Court of Appeal.

The decision came after defence attorney Roysdale Forde requested that aspects of his examination of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sharon Roopchand-Edwards be held off, arguing they were interconnected with an ongoing appeal concerning the United Kingdom-United States Extradition Treaty.

“The ruling with respect to the assessment and the effect of the treaty is hereby deferred,” Latchman said. Roopchand-Edwards will be informed when she is expected to return to court, the magistrate said, adding that she would rule on the treaty-related objection at a later date.

Forde told the court that the questions he intended to put to Roopchand-Edwards touched directly on issues raised in written submissions already before the court, and that his line of inquiry was “so interconnected with that very issue” that a ruling was needed first.

Nazar Mohamed at the Guyana Magistrate’s court in Guyana on Sept, 3, 2026

“Ultimately the issues in the court of appeal that I’m respectfully asking your worship to exercise a discretion which has not been taken away by the order,” Forde argued.

Latchman, however, rejected a broader request to adjourn the case entirely, ruling that doing so would conflict with a Court of Appeal order requiring the extradition hearing to proceed even while the treaty-related appeal remains unresolved.

“In any event Mr. Forde, this court has to abide by the Court of Appeal’s decision, and the matter must proceed. That is the decision of the Court of Appeal, and this court will have to abide by that,” she said.

Forde cited multiple sections of the Fugitive Offenders Act to support his argument that key parts of the extradition hearing are legally intertwined with the pending appeal, warning that a Court of Appeal ruling later on could complicate or require re-examination of testimony already given.

Following the ruling, the Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, was called to the witness stand as the hearing continued.

Thursday’s proceedings mark the latest development in a high-profile case that has drawn sustained attention from the Guyanese diaspora, including in the United States, where Azruddin Mohamed rallied supporters in New York in recent weeks via video and with a WIN party event in Long Island. The case has moved forward under a schedule of multiple court dates as both the extradition hearing and the related appeal process continue to unfold in parallel.

News AmericasNow will continue to follow developments in this case as it proceeds through Guyana’s courts as the case returns to court on Sept. 10th. Attorneys representing the state include King’s Counsel Terrence Williams, Glenn Hanoman, Herbert McKenzie and Celine Deidrick. The Mohameds continue to be represented by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, along with Siand Dhurjon and Damien DaSilva.

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