Georgetown, Guyana – In a landmark habeas corpus ruling delivered on Thursday, 29 October 2026, by High Court Judge Christel Lambert, 20-year-old police constable Ryan Greene, accused of selling restricted national surveillance footage to Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed for GY$800,000, will remain in police custody after the court confirmed his initial arrest was fully supported by objectively verifiable reasonable grounds. The ruling, which followed an urgent habeas corpus application filed by Randy Greene – the constable’s father – seeking the release of both his son and wife Nikita Greene, drew a sharp distinction between the two cases: Justice Lambert ordered Nikita Greene’s immediate unconditional release from custody, finding that state prosecutors and the Police Commissioner had failed to present any credible factual or legal justification to support her ongoing detention. In her detailed 2026 judgment, the judge emphasized that the writ of habeas corpus exists as a core constitutional safeguard against unlawful deprivation of personal liberty, and that the state had not met its burden of proof to show Nikita Greene was reasonably suspected of any criminal offence. The court noted that the mere allegation she received GY$300,000 from her son did not, on its own, meet the threshold for reasonable suspicion, and the supporting affidavits submitted by authorities contained no substantiated evidence of wrongdoing on her part. Prior to the ruling, Attorney General Anil Nandlall had argued in court that Ryan Greene was under investigation for a slate of serious offences including corruption, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and common law bribery, and had previously claimed Nikita Greene could face charges under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act for allegedly holding proceeds of crime – an offence that carries a maximum prison term of over five years. Nandlall also told the court that once the initial 72-hour detention window for Ryan Greene expired later that same Thursday, law enforcement would file a formal application to extend his custody to allow ongoing probes into the unauthorized leak of restricted surveillance material, which originated from the national police command centre and was disseminated publicly without required administrative authorization. He further contended that a low-ranking constable’s sudden possession of a large sum of cash would reasonably arouse suspicion for any ordinary member of the public. However, Justice Lambert clarified that Ryan Greene’s arrest did not take place in an investigative vacuum: the public circulation of the unauthorised police surveillance footage, paired with corroborating leads pointing to the young constable’s alleged role in accessing, removing and selling the restricted material, established clear reasonable suspicion that he may have violated national laws including the country’s Cybercrime Act. The court ruled that as long as police adhere to constitutional safeguards for detained persons and maintain lawful authority for his custody, there was no legal basis to order his immediate release. Following the ruling, defence counsel representing the two detainees, Dr Dexter Todd and Darren Wade, noted that the judgement was thoroughly well-reasoned, with Wade specifically praising the court’s commitment to upholding constitutional protections for personal liberty amid the high-profile criminal investigation.
High Court rules policeman accused of surveillance video leak to Azruddin Mohamed properly detained; mother ordered released
