Foreign nationals charged with using fake passports

Two Eritrean men were charged in court with falsifying their passports, after they were arrested this morning upon their arrival from Catania.

Mhreteab Zeru, 22, and Tesfay Gebrebirhan Anda, 29, appeared before magistrate Doreen Clarke, assisted by legal aid lawyer Joseph Ellis, to answer to the charges.

Although assisted by a translator, both men clearly had difficulty understanding the charges against them and the consequences of their plea.

Anda pleaded guilty and was handed a one year prison sentence, suspended for three. Inspector Frankie Sammut assured the court that the man would be repatriated without delay.

However, when asked what he pleaded to the charges against him, Zeru protested that he “did not know whether the passport was false or not.”

He eventually pleaded not guilty. “Because I don't know [whether] it is false or not.”

Bail was not requested by the defence and the man was remanded in custody.