Syrian man's lawyer to ask for presidential intervention in fake passport case

A lawyer defending a refugee fleeing the war in Syria who pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle his family into Malta with fake travel documents said he would be asking President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca to intervene.

The unusual announcement came as inspector Omar Zammit arraigned 36-year-old Masaab Falah, from Damascus, Syria, before magistrate Monica Vella this afternoon.

Falah, who works as an interior decorator, appeared in court assisted by lawyer Peter Paul Zammit, charged with offences relating to human trafficking, knowingly making use of falsified documents – among them Italian identification documents – and assisting a person to enter Malta contrary to the provisions of the Immigration Act.

The prosecution exhibited a number of documents recovered by the police during a search of the man's home. A copy of the man's passport, together with a fake Maltese ID card and nine fake Italian ID cards. A valid Syrian passport, which, however, did not belong to the accused were among the exhibits.

Zammit said the accused was pleading guilty “in the particular circumstances in the case,” but insisted that there was no intention to make profit.

He had procured the false documents in order to bring his family out of war-torn Syria, Zammit said. “The problem is were discussing a problem on refugees with a law intended for human traffickers.” The first line of the charges which refer to “any gain whatsoever ” could be interpreted very widely, the lawyer pointed out.

There was no profit motive, he argued, but conceded that the rest of the charges, which relate to falsification of documents, assisting in illegal entry to Malta, making a false declaration to a public authority and conspiracy to commit a crime, were essentially factual.

“We are aware that probation is excluded by the charges and that it is a serious offence but we are also aware that there are extenuating circumstances, which are very far away from the circumstances for which the law was intended,” the lawyer submitted. Zammit later added that he “will definitely ask the President to intervene in this case.”

The man had a large family to support and owned a shop in Malta, the lawyer added.

Zammit asked the court to order the drawing up of a pre-sentencing report on the man's family situation. The purpose of this request was to establish the legal position of the accused and his family and the extremes of this case to be more clear in the circumstances. The prosecution did not oppose this request.

The magistrate, after ascertaining that the accused knew what he was admitting to, acceded to the request for a pre-sentencing report.

The defence asked for bail until judgement is handed down, pointing out that the accused has five children and holds refugee status. The lawyer asked the court to take into account the very limited means the man had when setting bail conditions.

The prosecution objected to bail until the completion of the report, due to the gravity of the charges.

The court denied bail at this stage. The case will continue on 14 June for the examination of the pre-sentencing report.