Last Updated on Friday, 30 October 2026, 19:27 by Written By Denis Chabrol
Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohammed was late Friday afternoon remanded to prison until November 24, 2026 on a Cybercrime charge.
He was charged jointly with 20-year old police constable Ryan Greene under Section 9 (2)(b) of the Cybercrime Act which states that a person commits an offence who, through authorised or unauthorised means, obtains or accesses electronic data which relates to the national security of the State or is stored on a computer system and is protected against unauthorised access, and intentionally and without lawful excuse or justification grants access to or gives the electronic data to another person, whether or not he knows that the other person is authorised to receive or have access to the electronic data is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of GYD$8 million and to imprisonment for five years.
The charge stems from Mr Greene’s alleged downloading of the video of an October 12 shooting at the car in which Mr Mohamed, his driver and a staff member were travelling allegedly by the Head of the Guyana Police Force’ espionage department, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine. The trio is on bail for alleged possession of a firearm and ammunition and attempting to obstruct the course of justice by allegedly discharging a loaded firearm near Mr Narine’s residence, he being a key witness in the court hearing of a United States’ request for his extradition and that of his father, Nazar Mohamed.
Police said Mr Greene admitted to downloading the surveillance video from government’s surveillance system and selling it to Mr Mohamed for GY$800,000. Mr Mohamed played the more than 20-minute video at a news conference on Monday.
Defence lawyer, Roysdale Forde said appeals would be filed to the High Court, Guyana Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to overturn Magistrate Abigail Gibbs’ refusal to grant Mr Mohamed bail. “We are immediately making applications to the High Court for the bail of Mr Azruddin Mohamed,” he told reporters outside the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court. “There is absolutely no basis for the refusal of bail for Mr Azruddin Mohamed. The reason advanced by the magistrate ought to permit the grant of bail,” he said. He recalled that the magistrate refused bail Friday afternoon because Mr Mohamed was granted bail repeatedly and he was accused of committing other offences,” he said. Mr Forde said he retorted, saying that his client was being persecuted by the government.
Mr Forde said the prosecution failed to demonstrate the elements of the offence and what has happened. While he was talking with the media Mr Mohamed and Mr Greene were whisked off in a police vehicle through the eastern gate of the magistrate’s compound. A small group of We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) supporters ran around shouting “Our leader! Release our leader” and “They can’t hold you down. Hold it up.”
Constable Greene’s lawyer, Darren Wade, said the charge was improper. He said the video showing what happened on Barr Street (near Mr Narine’s residence) and Vlissengen Road and Sandy Babb Street was “not a matter of national security.” “The charge of itself is nonsensical,” he said.
Police blocked the media from entering the courtroom, and when asked whether any lawyer raised the fact that the media were blocked by police from entering the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court, Mr Forde said “we were not aware that the media were excluded.
