Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and two of his employees were today granted $750,000 bail each on firearm, ammunition and attempting to pervert the course of justice charges arising from Monday night’s incident outside the home of Special Branch Head, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine.
Mohamed, Mario Mohamed and Eugene Thorne appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where bail was set at $250,000 each on each of the three charges.
The charges are unlawful possession of a firearm without a licence, unlawful possession of ammunition without a licence, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
During the hearing, Mohamed’s attorney challenged the circumstances under which police said they recovered the firearm, arguing that an initial search of the vehicle at the scene had uncovered nothing.
According to the defence, the weapon was found during a subsequent search at the police station, after officers had taken control of the vehicle.
The lawyer referred to video footage circulating on social media which, he argued, appeared to show an officer retrieving a firearm during the search. He alleged that the weapon had been planted. That allegation has not been established by the court.
The defence also argued that the prosecution had not presented CCTV footage establishing that shots came from the vehicle occupied by the three men. The lawyer called for relevant surveillance footage and other evidence, including ballistic examination results, to be preserved and disclosed.
In seeking bail, the defence cited what it described as special circumstances, including the disputed recovery of the weapon, the charging of three men in connection with a single firearm, and questions about the strength of the prosecution’s evidence.
The prosecution opposed bail, citing the seriousness of the charges and arguing that the evidence and circumstances supported the case at this stage. It maintained that the defence’s challenges would have to be tested as the proceedings progressed.
The magistrate subsequently granted bail to all three men.
The charges arose from an incident late Monday night when the men were travelling in a vehicle that passed Narine’s residence. Mohamed has said they were documenting the police presence outside the home, which he considered an abuse of state resources.
According to the police account, Narine told investigators that he opened fire on the vehicle after hearing a sound similar to a gunshot. Several bullet holes were subsequently visible on the car.
Mohamed has denied that anyone inside the vehicle discharged a firearm and has disputed the police account of the weapon’s recovery.
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