DPP moves to strike out parts of Mohamed’s affidavit ahead of bail hearing
The Director of Public Prosecutions is asking the High Court to strike out six portions of Azruddin Mohamed’s supplemental affidavit in his bail challenge, arguing they contain hearsay and statements of law.
The application is down for hearing on Thursday, November 12, before Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif at the High Court in Demerara.
King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani and State Counsel Madana Rampersaud filed the application on Monday, November 9. The prosecution is seeking to have paragraphs 16, 45, 53, 59 and 61, along with the first sentence of paragraph 76, struck from the affidavit Mohamed filed on November 4 in support of his application for bail on a cybercrime charge.
In an affidavit in support of the application, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Diana O’Brien argued that Mohamed had not shown that several statements were within his personal knowledge.
These include references to unspecified complaints, comments made by social media users, and information he received about the alleged deletion or destruction of police footage.
The prosecution is also challenging passages outlining Mohamed’s interpretation of the legal requirements for an offence under Section 9 of the Cybercrime Act and referring to his attorney’s submissions. O’Brien said these are statements of law, not affidavit evidence.
The DPP does not oppose most of the affidavit but does not admit the remaining contents.
The application follows Magistrate Abigail Gibbs’ October 30 decision to refuse Mohamed bail on the cybercrime charge and remand him until November 24.
His mother, Bonita Mohamed, acting as his next friend, is seeking judicial review and bail pending trial. She filed an urgent application for interim bail on Sunday, proposing that her son surrender his travel documents, remain in Guyana, report to police, and avoid contact with Constable Ryan Greene and prosecution witnesses except through his attorney. Both applications are scheduled for hearing on Thursday. The substantive judicial review application is fixed for hearing on November 23.
The affidavit has already drawn criticism. At the November 4 hearing, the Attorney General described it as one of the worst drafted he had encountered, citing hearsay, and the defence was given time to fix its deficiencies and file the supplementary affidavit.
Mohamed, 39, and Police Constable Ryan Greene, 20, are jointly charged in connection with the alleged unauthorised access to and transfer of Guyana Police Force CCTV footage.
The footage relates to the October 12 shooting outside the Kitty home of Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine, head of the Force’s Special Branch Unit. The charge alleges it was taken from a computer system at the Police Command Centre in Liliendaal and handed to Mohamed for $800,000. Police Constable Ashton Chappelle, 24, was also charged over the footage and remanded.
This is not the main bail hearing. That remains set for Thursday, November 12, with a ruling expected on Friday, November 13. Mohamed’s custody is unchanged — he remains remanded to November 24.
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