I CANNOT comment on the court case involving an extradition request by the American Government to have Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, extradited to the US. The media are bound by court rules that you cannot comment on an ongoing case.

Based on how I see human existence, I cannot disagree with bail. I recall for readers that when the defendants in my case were brought before the court for assault on me, I was asked by the magistrate, Judy Latchman, if I opposed bail and I told her no.

I believe bail is an entitlement that must be observed by officers of the law.

I did not believe in my matter, the three men would not have attended court and I believe the Mohameds would not refuse to attend court. Having said that, I cannot comment on the court case, but a few words in protection of the Attorney-General must be said by all media houses.

The Guyana Government cannot refuse an extradition request from the US government because they have a legal bilateral arrangement. It is brutally stupid to think that the government should not have arrested the Mohameds.

International laws bind countries. The police force had to pick up the Mohameds. The courts had to decide whether they should be kept on remand until the next court appearance. When the matter is next called, the process will take its course.

The Guyana Government has absolutely nothing to do with the court case. The Americans have indicted the Mohameds not the police force or the DPP.

Secondly, it feels good for the anti-government haters to keep blaming the government for what is happening to the Mohameds. It serves their dangerous agenda to bring in the government, but it is the American Justice Department that indicted the Mohameds and says that it has evidence that they violated US laws.

Where is the involvement of the Guyana Government?

Once again, I reprint for the third time on this page that the Americans may have evidence that the Mohameds were exporting gold in collaboration with Venezuelan state officials. I believe that evidence the Americans will put on the table if the Mohameds are tried in a US court.

I now repeat for the second time on this page that I believe the plea deal the Mohameds made with the Americans in a Barbadian rendezvous went unrealised because a jail term was rejected by the Mohameds.

From here on, I can no longer comment on the extradition hearing before the courts.  I now have a few notes about the bombing.

I don’t believe even for a fleeting moment that the bomb at the gas station and the operatives had any state involvement from any country. My take is that these operatives were part of a Venezuelan gang plot that involves local players.

The entire operation lacked the sophistication of military intelligence. This was a plot involving the Sindigato gang and it had local intellectual authors who wanted to destabilise Guyana.

I am not going to go further, but just to ask readers to read between the lines. This was no plot by any government. No government would be so amateurish. This had the markings of criminals from Venezuela that operated in the interests of local actors who would have gained from the internecine aftermath of that bomb if that pump attendant had not stopped the bomber.

I think all Guyanese know what would have happened to Georgetown if that bomb had detonated under the gas station where the storage tanks are.

The destabilisers were ruthless people who could have caused a large part of Regent Street to be destroyed. I have no doubt in my mind that the intention was to undermine the stability of Guyana and I believe local actors thought they could benefit from the massive dislocation that would have occurred.

As this case of the extradition request goes on, my opinion is that the Americans will provide incontrovertible evidence of violations of American laws by the Mohameds. The Americans would not have waited for more than two years if they had ready-made evidence about one or two months after they sanctioned the Mohameds. The Americans took two years to gather their evidence and now that they feel they have a case, they have made their extradition request move.

One only hopes that as the case unfolds and the Americans present their documents, stupid people would stop their hate-filled trips and see this case for what it is; an American family accused by the US authorities of gold smuggling that violated American laws.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Ltd.