High Court Judge Priscilla Chandra-Hanif today refused to grant interim bail to Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed but brought forward the hearing of his challenge to a magistrate’s refusal of bail to next Tuesday.
The substantive hearing had been set for November 23. Mohamed remains in custody at Lusignan Prison.
The judge had heard more than three hours of arguments yesterday over whether the High Court could release Mohamed while it considered his challenge to Magistrate Abigail Gibbs’ October 30 decision to remand him.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC opposed the application, arguing that Mohamed’s lawyers had chosen to proceed under the Judicial Review Act and could not use an interim application to bypass the procedures governing that challenge. The State also argued that Magistrate Gibbs had given reasons for refusing bail and that the High Court should examine the substantive challenge before interfering with her decision.
Mohamed’s lawyers argued that the High Court retained the power to grant temporary relief and that every additional day in custody would represent a loss of liberty that could not be restored if the court later found that bail had been unlawfully refused. The urgent application, filed on November 8 by his mother, Bonita Mohamed, proposed conditions including surrendering his travel documents, reporting regularly to police and having no contact with prosecution witnesses. The defence had also asked the court to bring forward the substantive hearing.
Mohamed and Police Constable Ryan Greene were remanded on October 30 after appearing before Magistrate Gibbs at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on a joint charge of unauthorised giving of electronic data under the Cybercrime Act. The charge concerns surveillance footage of the October 12 shooting outside the Kitty residence of Police Special Branch Head, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine. Both pleaded not guilty.
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