Dear Editor,
The extradition case involving opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed has become more than a legal dispute. It is increasingly about electoral outcome in 2030 and the future of the PPP. Azruddin WIN is likely to win the next elections because of widespread disenchantment with PPP governance and the failure of PNC (APNU) as an opposition; people don’t want to see or hear about Norton; as long as he is around, PNC and APNU have not future. APNU has no chance at the next election. It will run third again with a few seats. The test in the extradition matter involving Azruddin is whether Guyana’s institutions can keep the rule of law separate from the brutal calculations of electoral politics of 2030; Jagdeo knows that PPP can’t win if Azruddin is around. Jagdeo and Irfaan are worried about the PPP’s and their personal political future, hence the reason behind the push for extradition of Azruddin. So they are doing everything possible to eliminate Azruddin from Guyana. They lobbied President Biden and Anthony Blinken to rid Azruddin from Guyana, resulting in the indictment. And Irfaan and Jagdeo have been lobbying Marco Rubio and firm tied to him with big bucks to take Azruddin away from Guyana.
Azruddin faces a U.S. indictment under the Biden Administration alleging offences including money laundering, fraud and other wrongdoing; the indictment stated Azruddin and his father Nazar defrauded Guyana of US$50M in taxes; they didn’t cheat USA. And that is small money for USA and not its concern; Biden lobbyists went after the couple because they were hired by Jagdeo and Irfaan with Guyana tax payers money. Azruddin, Jagdeo, Irfaan, Nazar were all friends until Azruddin decided he would run for President; that sent Jagdeo and Irfaan crazy resulting in their lobbying of Biden to institute charges against Azruddin and his father. The father-son denies wrongdoing and has argued that the extradition effort is politically motivated; it is Jagdeo and Irfaan who want the Mohamed’s out of Guyana, not Guyanese and not Trump administration; Jagdeo and Irfaan paying lobbyists over US$200K to push for extradition of the Mohamed’s. That is why there is an extradition hearing in Guyana where the magistrate, Judy Latchman, is being harassed to commit the Mohamed’s in a very weak case.
Extradition should not be treated as a referendum on Mohamed’s political ambitions. Nor should it be used as a substitute for a criminal trial. Azruddin should not be gone after, extradited to USA because he is popular, exposing corruption of PPP government, threatening the governing party, and likely of winning the 2030 election.
What happens if Mohamed is not extradited and subsequently wins power? That possibility creates an extraordinary political incentive structure. If, after a lawful process, Mohamed remains in Guyana and eventually reaches the presidency in 2030, members of the present political establishment could find themselves facing investigations or prosecutions under an administration that campaigned on accountability. The PPP administration from 2025 to now has been the most corrupt in the history of Guyana. Jagdeo, Irfaan and others make Burnham and Greene look like innocent angels. Washington has ‘goods’ on the PPP corrupt. They have immunity from American prosecution for now because they are in government. Once PPP loses power, the corrupt lose immunity and can be indicted and extradited to face prosecution in USA just like Azruddin and Nazar are today. They will for certain also face charges in Guyana for massive corruption that is being exposed daily. The PPP is doing everything to win over Washington, giving the Americans everything they want just to get rid of Azruddin. Will it work?
The political fear of PPP is understandable. A change of government can transform the relationship between political power and accountability. Allegations that might previously have remained political talking points can become matters for investigators and prosecutors. Government contracts, public spending, procurement decisions, tax matters and allegations of official misconduct, businesses owned by officials under names of others, government and business renting properties of officials, etc. can all be revisited where credible evidence warrants investigation.
This is precisely why the extradition question should not be decided according to fears about what Mohamed might do in 2030.
Azruddin should not be extradited because of lobbying of Biden and Marco Rubio by Guyanese taxpayer dollars. The PPP government should not get away with manipulating extradition of the Mohamed’s because it fears the political and criminal consequences of a likely President Azruddin administration. The Magistrate should not be forced into making a ruling in favor of the PPP. And President Trump should intervene and review the indictment of the Mohamed’s in light of political lobbying of Biden to extradite them to USA to eliminate the threat Azruddin poses to Jagdeo and Irfaan.
Yours truly,
Faraz Mohammed
