Two more jailed for travelling with forged visas

Two young men were jailed this afternoon after admitting in court to being in possession of counterfeit travelling visas and using them to travel to Malta. The men, both of Turkish nationality, were handed an eight-month jail term and fined €1,000 each.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman heard both Huseyin Parmaksiz, 26, and Ali Aydin, 19, confess to visa tampering. On her part, Inspector Jeanne Farrugia said that the men had told the police that they had purchased their documents from a person close to the embassy. She said that she would have had no objection had a suspended sentence been given, with both men having to at least stay in Malta until Monday.

However, Magistrate Hayman disagreed, stating that such crimes merited jail-time, as well as a fine.

The lawyer for the defence stated that the men had been conned by a person who they believed to be an embassy official. And so, when they went to collect their visas, they claimed not to be aware that the source was not who he said he was.

Magistrate Hayman said that such crimes were becoming ‘unbearable’, and it was not right that people seemed to put his or her mind at rest upon being given a suspended sentence.

Earlier in the day, three foreign men were also jailed for travelling with forged Visas, whilst a woman is awaiting judgement. Nineteen-year-old Turkish national Sengul Murat, and Tayebi Behzad, 25, of Iran, admitted to the charges of having in their possession counterfeit travelling documents and making use of forged visas to enter Malta. They were both handed a 13-month jail terms.

In separate proceedings 26-year old Ethiopian national Habib Zemecha was jailed for three months for travelling without valid and legal documentation.