Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has appealed to Guyana’s international partners to scrutinise what he describes as an escalating use of law-enforcement powers against the political opposition, following his repeated detention last week and the seizure of electronic devices belonging to him, parliamentarians and party representatives.
The appeal is contained in a five-page “diplomatic brief” dated September 5 and issued by the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. It raises questions about the legal basis for the detentions, searches and seizure of devices during a police investigation into alleged drone activity near President Irfaan Ali’s private residence at Leonora.
The brief also links the disappearance of the Team Mohamed’s Facebook page to the period during which Mohamed’s mobile phones and laptop were in police custody. It calls for an independent forensic examination but provides no evidence establishing that the police accessed the devices or interfered with the page.
“The appropriate time for democratic partners to express concern is before democratic norms are irreparably weakened, not after,” the document states.
It urges international partners to seek clarification from the government about the legal basis for the detention of Mohamed, Members of Parliament and opposition employees, as well as the seizure, removal and examination of their electronic devices.
The brief also calls on Guyana’s partners to monitor the treatment of the opposition, examine the handling and chain of custody of the seized devices and engage directly with opposition representatives.
According to the document, Mohamed was detained at approximately 7.15 pm on September 3 and released on his own recognisance about two hours later. He and several party representatives were subsequently detained again while outside the Leonora Police Station.
The brief says the cellular phones of Mohamed, MPs Dr Gordon Barker and Dr Andre Lewis, Regional Councillor Sean Nelson and several employees were taken from the station while they remained in custody. Nelson’s phone could not initially be located, it alleges, and he was required to return the following morning to retrieve it.
It further alleges that two vehicles, Mohamed’s phones and laptop remained in police custody and that the homes of two employees were searched without warrants.
The document says three employees were “arrested and charged”.
Police had said they received information at approximately 6.30 pm on Thursday that persons travelling in a black Toyota Land Cruiser were allegedly operating a drone in the area.
Ranks intercepted the vehicle at Windsor Forest with Mohamed, Thorne and Ross inside. Police said a DJI drone and four cellular phones were found during searches of the men and vehicle.
A second vehicle driven by Mario Mohamed was also intercepted. Police said another drone was later found during a search of Ross’s home.
Ross reportedly acknowledged owning the drone found in the vehicle but told investigators that his operating licence had expired in 2023. Mohamed denied owning the device or that it had been flown over the President’s residence.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority had initially said “several unregistered drones” were reportedly found in two vehicles and warned that operating drones in restricted or prohibited airspace may constitute an offence under the Civil Aviation Act.
Kiskadee Watch reported that Mohamed was initially released on self-bail but was taken into custody again with MPs and councillors after police objected to their filming outside the station. They were subsequently released, while the three employees remained detained.
The brief places particular emphasis on the continued retention of Mohamed’s electronic devices, saying they may contain privileged legal communications, confidential political discussions and exchanges with parliamentarians, journalists and members of the public.
It questions the authority under which the state may be retaining or examining those communications but provides no evidence that investigators bypassed the security protections on the devices.
The Team Mohamed’s Facebook page, which had more than 500,000 followers, disappeared from public view after the devices were seized.
Mohamed told Kiskadee Watch that he could not say with certainty what caused the page to become inaccessible. An information technology professional consulted by this publication said that the page’s disappearance did not establish who was responsible, whether it had been deleted or merely unpublished, or whether the action was carried out using either of Mohamed’s phones.
The brief says the incident forms part of a pattern that includes the overnight detention of WIN MP Natasha Singh and her husband, the physical search of MP Tabitha Sarabo-Halley and a police operation involving WIN parliamentarians travelling to Region One.
It argues that elected representatives must be able to organise, communicate, travel and perform their constitutional duties without intimidation or improper state interference.
Mohamed had said that he visited Leonora to examine sea-defence works after receiving complaints from residents. However, his attorney subsequently told the court that he had also gone to make enquiries about a one-acre parcel of land reportedly worth approximately $200 million.
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