The extradition hearing involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, was scheduled to continue on Tuesday and Wednesday but will now resume on Thursday due to a clash with a High Court matter involving the two men.
The Mohameds are required to appear before Justice Nigel Niles in the High Court in Demerara on Tuesday in connection with contempt proceedings involving social media personality Mikhail Rodrigues, popularly known as the “Guyanese Critic.”
The extradition proceedings are being heard before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Where court proceedings clash, an appearance before a judge in the High Court takes precedence over a matter before a magistrate.
The High Court proceedings are connected to a defamation lawsuit filed by the Mohameds against Rodrigues and his media company, They Break News Inc.
The lawsuit followed statements Rodrigues made about the father and son during his online programmes in February and March 2024.
In July 2024, Justice Niles entered default judgment against Rodrigues and ordered him and his company to pay the Mohameds approximately $52 million in damages.
The court also issued a permanent injunction restraining Rodrigues and the company from repeating or publishing the statements found to be defamatory.
Rodrigues later appealed the judgment and injunction, but the appeal was dismissed in March 2025. Justice Niles subsequently ordered him to pay costs.
While the specific nature of the current contempt proceedings was not immediately clear, the Mohameds are seeking to have Rodrigues held in contempt.
As a result, the extradition hearing before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman cannot proceed on Tuesday, September 8, because of the High Court appearance.
The matter also cannot continue on Wednesday, September 9, as Chief Magistrate Latchman is scheduled to attend a meeting.
The extradition proceedings are therefore expected to resume on Thursday, September 10, with further cross-examination of Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine.
The United States is seeking the extradition of the Mohameds to face an 11-count federal indictment involving allegations including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and customs offences.
