By Mark DaCosta- Calls for the release of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed echoed again outside Georgetown’s High Court on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, as supporters of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, among them parliamentarian Gobin Harbhajan, gathered to protest his imprisonment. What began as a demand for one man’s freedom widened into a broader appeal for fairness, due process and respect for citizens’ rights. The protest is also joined by other members of the parliamentary opposition and civil society.
Mohamed is being held on a charge of attempting to bribe a public official in connection with leaked police surveillance footage. Police Constable Ryan Greene was charged alongside him, with both men denied bail at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court on October 30 and remanded until November 24. The case has since widened, with Constable Ashton Chappell also charged on Tuesday, November 3, for the same offence and remanded to prison. Mohamed’s legal team has since approached the High Court seeking to overturn the bail refusal and secure his release. All three accused are presumed innocent, and the allegations remain to be tested before the courts.
Demonstrators voiced displeasure at his detention, but their grievances reached further. They spoke of human rights, equal treatment under the law and the need for accountability in how citizens are handled by the justice system.
The episode lands amid considerable legal turbulence for the opposition chief. He and his father, Nazar Mohamed, remain the subject of a United States extradition request on fraud and money-laundering allegations, and he has separately faced local tax-related charges, all of which he has contested. Earlier this month, he was also granted bail on other charges after his legal team accused the police of fabricating evidence.
For Guyanese, the standoff poses a delicate test. A sitting Opposition Leader behind bars raises questions about the independence of our institutions and the public’s confidence in them. Whether the courts grant bail or the remand holds, the outcome will be watched closely as a measure of both the rule of law and the health of our democracy.
