Court denies adjournment, Mohameds’ extradition case proceeds

Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed

Extradition proceedings against businessmen Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, continued on Thursday at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, a day after the High Court dismissed their claim that the case was politically motivated.
Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh on Wednesday rejected arguments that the extradition process amounted to political bias allegedly orchestrated by the government in retaliation for Azruddin Mohamed’s political ambitions.

Azruddin Mohamed, who was recently sworn in as Leader of the Opposition, is currently participating in ongoing budget debates in the National Assembly.

His attorney, defence counsel Siand Dhurjon, applied for an adjournment of Thursday’s hearing, citing Mohamed’s constitutional obligations in Parliament. Magistrate Judy Latchman denied the request and ordered that the matter proceed as scheduled.

The High Court’s ruling clears the way for the continuation of the extradition hearing in the magistrate’s court.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who was named as a respondent in the High Court challenge along with Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Waldron and Magistrate Latchman, welcomed the decision, saying it dispelled claims of political interference.“He ruled that a case for bias has not been made out, cannot be made out,” Nandlall said. “That the minister is no performing the type of function when she is issuing that authority, she is not performing a function that is judicial or quasi-judicial, but is simply discharging an executive and a statutory diktat which parliament has invested her with by virtue of the fugitive offenders Act.”

Nandlall said the court noted that any allegation of bias, if applicable, would have to be directed at a judicial tribunal, since the question of bias does not arise in relation to the Home Affairs minister exercising statutory authority to proceed with an extradition request.

He added that the legal challenge sought to undermine the country’s extradition framework and that the ruling rejected the notion that a person facing extradition could avoid the process by entering politics.
The extradition case in the magistrate’s court is expected to continue in the coming days.