—Pending constitutional motion, judicial review application & Full Court appeal cited as Magistrate adjourns hearing until 10 a.m
Attorneys for Nazar Mohamed and his son Azruddin Mohamed on Tuesday urged Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman not to begin their clients’ extradition committal hearing.
They instead asked that the matter be adjourned/halted pending the High Court’s determination of their constitutional motion and judicial review application.
The Mohameds are fighting extradition to the United States. They face charges of serious financial crimes there, including money laundering in a Florida court.
Attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon pointed to Monday’s ruling by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh, in which he refused to grant a stay of the extradition proceedings.
Justice Singh refused the Mohameds’ application for a stay of the extradition proceedings, ruling that although they are entitled to pursue their constitutional challenge in the High Court, they had not met the high legal threshold required for the interim relief sought.
Justice Singh emphasised that the mere filing of constitutional proceedings does not automatically suspend parallel statutory extradition processes, and that stays in extradition matters are “exceptional, not routine.”
Acting Chief Justice Singh is scheduled to hear arguments in the substantive constitutional matter next Wednesday.
The stay was sought in the constitutional motion. Dhurjon insisted that serious constitutional issues must still be determined by the High Court.
The Magistrate was served with the Mohameds’ notice of appeal to the Full Court against the Chief Justice’s ruling, where they are again seeking a stay of the extradition proceedings.
Dhurjon also noted that the Mohameds are seeking a stay of the extradition proceedings in another matter— a judicial review application.
The Magistrate adjourned the hearing until 10 a.m. after hearing arguments from both the defence and the prosecution.
