THE Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will hand down a judgment on Wednesday that could determine the fate of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, in their long-running battle against extradition to the United States.
The regional court has confirmed it will deliver its decision at 14:00hrs (2:00 p.m.AST) on July 29, 2026, in the matter of Nazar Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed v Minister of Home Affairs, Attorney General and Magistrate of Guyana.
The proceedings will be livestreamed on the CCJ’s YouTube channel, giving the public direct access to what is expected to be a landmark ruling in Guyana’s justice system.
The case traces back to October 30, 2025, when the United States government formally requested the extradition of the father and son to face an 11-count criminal indictment in the Southern District of Florida, including charges of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering tied to their gold-trading operations.
Following the request, Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond issued an Authority to Proceed under the Fugitive Offenders Act, and the magistrate issued arrest warrants the following day, setting extradition proceedings in motion before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
In December 2025, the Mohameds launched judicial review proceedings against the minister and the Attorney General, arguing that the Authority to Proceed was invalid and asking the courts to halt the extradition process.
Both the High Court, in a ruling delivered by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh on February 4, 2026, and the Court of Appeal, on March 17, 2026, dismissed the Mohameds’ claims and declined to grant a stay.
The Mohameds, however, sought special leave to appeal to the CCJ.
At a case-management conference on March 25, 2026, the CCJ, describing the matter as carrying “a clear element of urgency,” granted an interim stay of the extradition proceedings, freezing the committal hearing before Magistrate Judy Latchman pending determination of the appeal.
The court also ordered that the special-leave hearing itself be treated as the hearing of the substantive appeal, and fixed the matter for a video-conference hearing on April 21, 2026.
During that hearing, attorneys for the Mohameds told the court that their clients wanted the Authority to Proceed set aside and reassigned to an official they argue would be free of political bias.
Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall, representing the state, has maintained that the challenge amounts to an abuse of process designed to delay proceedings, pointing to the Court of Appeal’s finding that the case had “absolutely no merit.”
Wednesday’s judgment will not touch on the guilt or innocence of the Mohameds regarding the US charges. However, the CCJ will rule on the legality of the process used to authorise the extradition proceedings, and specifically, whether the minister’s Authority to Proceed can stand.
Should the CCJ uphold the lower courts’ decisions, the stay will lift and the committal proceedings before Magistrate Latchman will resume.
The Mohameds are being represented by Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein and Roysdale Forde, along with Sasha Bridgemohansingh, Siand Dhurjon, Damien Da Silva and Aadam Hosein.
The Minister of Home Affairs is represented by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and Clay Hackett, while the Attorney General’s Chambers is represented by Attorney General Nandlall himself, along with Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, Deputy Solicitor General Shoshanna Lall and attorney Dishon Persaud. Magistrate Latchman is represented by attorney Arudranauth Gossai.
With no further avenue of appeal beyond the CCJ, Wednesday’s ruling will be final, bringing to a close, one way or another, nine months of legal wrangling that has drawn national attention to the intersection of politics, law enforcement, and Guyana’s extradition treaty obligations to the United States.
