GEORGETOWN – Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, has fired back at what he calls a campaign of distortion surrounding the explosive extradition case against Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, declaring that the withdrawal of tax-related charges against the gold-dealing father and son was not political interference, but a legal obligation under Guyana’s treaty with the United States.
In an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Friday, Nandlall sought to set the record straight amid mounting public speculation. “It’s an accepted and well-established principle of extradition law that domestic arrangements sometimes have to be adjusted to facilitate extradition,” he said.
“The charges could not proceed here while an extradition request was active for the same or related offences.”He explained that the GRA’s criminal case, which accused the Mohameds of underreporting billions in gold export income, had to be paused because criminal and extradition proceedings cannot run side by side.
“If a person goes to jail, the taxes are not recovered,” Nandlall stated. “That’s why the law allows civil recovery. The $191 billion tax assessment has already been issued, and recovery is actively being pursued through the courts.”Turning his attention to critics, Nandlall blasted what he described as “a desperate political smokescreen.”
He said the claims that the extradition is politically motivated are “fictional” and conveniently timed. “The two subjects of the extradition request were not politicians when these alleged offences occurred,” he said. “Politics only entered the picture after sanctions were imposed and one of them chose to join the political arena. Now, politics is being used as a shield.”
The Attorney General was clear: the extradition order came from Washington, not Georgetown. “If anyone wants to argue politics, they’ll have to point fingers at the United States,” he said. “This process is entirely external to the Government of Guyana.”
He also corrected what he called a “persistent misunderstanding” about who is handling the case. “The Jamaican attorneys appearing in court are representing the U.S. Government, not Guyana,” he explained.
“This is standard practice, the same way the U.S. Attorney’s Office represented Guyana when we sought Marcus Bisram’s extradition. It’s called reciprocity.”Responding to concerns about due process, Nandlall underscored that extradition hearings are not criminal trials. “No one is being charged here for an offence in Guyana,” he clarified.
“The Constitution recognises extradition as a lawful exception to the right to liberty. It allows custody before surrender, not because someone has been convicted, but because the law requires it.” Nandlall said that all constitutional and treaty safeguards are in place and that the Mohameds will get a fair trial in the United States, where the charges originate.
“This is a legal process, not a political performance,” he said firmly.He ended with a pointed remark directed at those fuelling public doubt: “If this case involved anyone else, it would’ve gone through the courts quietly. But because of the personalities and their sudden embrace of politics, every legal step is being twisted into a conspiracy. Let’s be clear: this isn’t persecution; it’s prosecution.”
