On the afternoon of Thursday, 29 October 2026, a tense standoff unfolded a short distance from Guyana’s State House, where President Irfaan Ali was preparing to welcome United Kingdom’s King Charles III for an official state reception later that same day. The unrest kicked off as hundreds of supporters of the opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WiN) party gathered to stage a demonstration, their chants cutting through the air as uniformed police officers maintained a visible perimeter around the protest site. The demonstration was sparked by the arrest of WiN party leader Azruddin Mohamed the previous day, on allegations that he had paid a police officer GY$800,000 to obtain restricted police surveillance footage. Protesters repeatedly shouted rallying cries demanding his immediate release, with slogans including “Free our leader now. Freedom now. Hands off our leader. Hands off him now.” Earlier that day, law enforcement had attempted to take Hana Mohamed, sister of the detained opposition leader, into custody, a move that further galvanized the crowd’s anger. Moments after the WiN supporters’ chants reached a crescendo, a separate contingent of demonstrators opposed to Azruddin Mohamed arrived on the scene, carrying placards emblazoned with messages that read “Give the people back their wealth”, “Extradite Mohamed now”, and “Mohamed tell us what happened to Paper Shorts”. To prevent violent clashes between the two rival groups, police units quickly formed a physical barrier to keep the opposing factions separated, ensuring no direct confrontations broke out in the lead-up to King Charles’ scheduled state reception at the heavily secured State House compound.
Opposition WIN supporters protesting near State House where King Charles will attend reception
