High Court rejects US-sanctioned LOO’s interim bail bid, fast-tracks substantive challenge

…Judge to rule Tuesday on legality of Magistrate’s remand decision

Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif has rejected the interim bail bid by United States (US)- sanctioned and indicted, Azruddin Mohamed, ruling that the more appropriate course was to fast-track the substantive challenge to the decision that placed him on remand. Delivering her decision at the High Court in Demerara on Friday, Justice Chandra-Hanif said the court had to weigh Mohamed’s constitutional right to personal liberty against the need to ensure fairness in the judicial review proceedings. Those proceedings are intended to determine whether Magistrate Abigail Gibbs acted lawfully when she refused to grant him bail on a cybercrime charge.

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The Judge acknowledged the seriousness of the application and the consequences of continued detention, but said granting interim bail at this stage would risk giving Mohamed, who is the Opposition Leader, substantially the same relief he is seeking in the substantive proceedings before the court has determined whether the Magistrate’s decision was unlawful.