Fined for having others' passports

Victor Calleja, 51, of Hamrun was yesterday fined Lm300 after he was found guilty of being in possession of passports belonging to others.

He was, however, not found guilty of the charge of having made use of counterfeit seals and rubber stamps on public documents.

The court had heard Police Inspector Sandro Zarb testify that Adel Omar Abdallah El Ahdar and Khaled El Sadi Salem Talouba had been stopped at the Malta International Airport on suspicion that they had false rubber stamps on their passports.

Under interrogation, the two men indicated Calleja as the person who had stamped their passports against payment to extend their stay in Malta.

Calleja testified that although the two men had resided at a house in Marsa, which he rented out, they did not reside there when they were arrested.

Following a search at the house and garage belonging to the accused, the police had found photocopies of passports in the names of Abdel Mohammed N. Ayari, Khaled El Hadi and Farag Mahled Osam.

However, Calleja denied ever having done any work connected with counterfeit stamps although he admitted that he sometimes was in possession of the passports of third parties but these passports had been passed on to him voluntarily.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, noted that from the evidence provided in court it did not result that the stamps of the passports of the Arab nationals were false. This was because the prosecution had failed to bring forward immigration officials to testify that they had not stamped the passports in question.

Nor was an expert appointed to verify whether the stamps were false or not and neither had any proof been brought to the satisfaction of the court that during the days marked on the passports indicating that the Arab nationals were abroad, they had actually not left the island.

The court added that the evidence given by the Arab nationals was contradictory and, as such, could not be held to be credible without reasonable doubt.

However, the court said, the transfer of passports constituted a crime.

Inspectors Sandro Zarb and Stephen Micallef prosecuted.