A senior Guyanese police officer told an extradition hearing this week that he regards Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed as the greatest threat to national security, before conceding under cross-examination that none of the serious allegations against him have resulted in charges anywhere in the world.

Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, head of the Police Special Branch, gave the assessment while being questioned in proceedings concerning extradition requests brought by the United States against Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed. Both men are contesting the requests in the Guyanese courts.

Narine told the court that police intended to pursue Mohamed through every legal avenue available to them. He said the assessment of Mohamed as a security threat was based on intelligence gathered from police sources reaching back to 2011. That intelligence, he said, implicated Mohamed in six alleged execution-style killings, as well as assault, torture, bribery and an explosion aboard a vessel that killed three people.

Asked to clarify what he meant by execution-style killings, Narine said the term referred to homicides that were planned and carried out deliberately, rather than describing any particular physical position or method used against the victims.

Defence counsel Siand Dhurjon pressed the officer on the evidential basis for these claims. Narine acknowledged that Mohamed has never been charged, arrested or convicted by any court, in Guyana or elsewhere, in connection with any of the alleged killings, the assault and torture allegations, or the vessel explosion.

The officer also admitted he had no firsthand knowledge of any of the incidents he had described. He said his information came entirely from internal police sources whose identities he did not disclose. Under further questioning, Narine said he could not recall specific details from witness statements, nor could he name the superior officer to whom he had reported the intelligence at the time.

The hearing also touched on the disappearance of three of Narine's personal police notebooks. Dhurjon raised the destruction of the notebooks as a point requiring explanation, though the police force has maintained that the notes contained nothing of evidential value.

Much of the cross-examination focused on Mohamed's political activity and the question of whether the case against him is separate from his role as opposition leader. Dhurjon asked whether Narine was aware of public statements made by Mohamed criticising government figures, including President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. Narine said he had heard such statements but could not recall their specific content. He also denied having seen opposition media material that has circulated detailing the assets of government officials.

The defence further alleged that Special Branch officers had deliberately closed courtroom doors during an incident in October last year, in order to stage a public arrest rather than permit what the defence characterised as a peaceful surrender. Narine rejected the claim, telling the court he was in the witness box at the time and had no authority over who was permitted to enter or leave the courtroom.

The extradition case continues against a backdrop of heightened political tension in Guyana, where Mohamed leads the parliamentary opposition. The proceedings will determine whether he and his father are sent to the United States to face the criminal charges set out in the extradition requests, separate from the domestic allegations raised in Narine's testimony.

The hearing is expected to resume with further cross-examination of Special Branch witnesses, as the defence continues to challenge the intelligence underpinning the case against both men.

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