A passenger who forged a COVID test result to fly out to his sick mother in Turkey was remanded in custody by a court that would not tolerate anyone flouting health safety measures. 

Muhammet Mustafa Aslan, 34, who holds a managerial job in Malta, was arrested at the airport on Monday morning at around 9am after presenting a fake test certificate to Turkish Airlines staff.

The document aroused suspicion and the police were called in.

A call to the private hospital from where the test had purportedly been issued soon confirmed those suspicions. 

The man was taken in for questioning, cooperating all the way and explaining how he had tried to take a COVID test on Sunday but had found the clinic closed. 

He had therefore allegedly altered information on a previous test result issued in his name, in his bid to travel out on Malta to visit his mother, prosecuting Inspector Christian Abela told the court. 

Magistrate Mifsud pointed out that this was a “serious case” since the whole island was “under siege” because of the pandemic and the court would not allow anyone to endanger public health.

Such cases of fake certificates were becoming rather frequent, observed the magistrate, stressing that the court would adopt a no-tolerance approach and would hand down an effective jail term in case of a guilty plea.

“We are in this situation because certain people did not follow rules,” he said, adding "businesses and frontliners are suffering.”

Meanwhile, the accused, after consultation with his lawyer, Kathleen Calleja Grima, requested bail.

The lawyer pointed out that besides having a stable job and a relationship in Malta, having lived here since 2014, the man had cooperated with the police. 

Without trying to justify his alleged wrongdoing, the lawyer said that there had been “no money in it” but simply humanitarian reasons.

Hours since his arrest, the accused had tested negative to COVID after being checked at Boffa Hospital, his lawyer went on.

Besides, previous cases involving the same charges had never resulted in an effective jail term, the lawyer argued, insisting that there was no legal reason to deny bail.

But the prosecution objected and the court turned down the request, sending the case to the court registrar to be assigned accordingly. 

“Your Honour, may I explain myself?” the accused asked, as the hearing came to an end.  

“Your lawyer has presented your case,” was the magistrate’s final word.