Caribbean Court of Justice 72d ago

The Second Applicant, Azruddin Mohamed, is the Leader of the Opposition of Guyana, and the First Applicant, Nazar Mohamed, is his father. On 30 October 2025, the United States government submitted a request to Guyana seeking their extradition to face an 11 count criminal indictment, including allegations of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering. Following receipt of the request, the Minister of Home Affairs of Guyana issued an Authority to Proceed under the Fugitive Offenders Act. On 31 October 2025, Magistrate Judy Latchman issued arrest warrants, formally commencing extradition proceedings in the Court of Committal, which remain ongoing. In December 2025, the Applicants initiated judicial review proceedings against the Minister of Home Affairs, the Attorney General and the Magistrate, challenging the validity of the Authority to Proceed and seeking a stay of the extradition process. Their claim was dismissed by the High Court on 4 February 2026 and by the Court of Appeal on 17 March 2026. The Applicants now seek special leave to appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice (‘CCJ’). While the High Court and the Court of Appeal refused to stay the extradition proceedings, at a case management conference held on 25 March 2026, the CCJ granted an interim stay of the extradition proceedings pending the determination of this application for special leave. The CCJ also fixed the special leave application for hearing via video conference on 21 April 2026 at 9:00 am and ordered, among other things, that the hearing of the application for special leave be treated as the hearing of the substantive appeal.