‘They left for a better life, not a holiday’ lawyer says as couples jailed over fake ID

Two couples arrested at the airport en route to Belgium have been jailed for six months after admitting to forging and using false identification documentation, in a case which the police are continuing to investigate.

Greek residents Yousef Hammat from Algeria and Mohammed Lassad Birki from Libya were arraigned first before magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras. False identification documents – Hammat’s being French and Birki’s being Italian – were found in their possession.

Their arraignment and guilty plea was followed by the arraignment of Rabia Yavuz and Muzekka Deneri, both from Turkey. Yavuz was found to be carrying two fake French ID cards whilst Deneri was carrying two fake Italian ID cards. Romanian identification documents were also found in their possession. They also were found to be in possession of boarding passes for flights to Brussels.

They had arrived in Malta on Monday, together with two young children, whose distraught screams echoed from the corridor outside the courtroom before, during and after the sitting. Inspector Karl Roberts, prosecuting, told magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras that the defendants were suspected of being involved in other, more serious crimes, which the police were actively investigating.

Legal aid defence counsel Christopher Chircop told the court that their intention was to leave Greece for Brussels to seek a better life. He said the women were teachers, fleeing the coup in Turkey and had decided to travel to Belgium as they could not renew their residence permit in Greece. “Their circumstances are different from the normal cases we see. They are doing the best they can for their children, who will be traumatised if they are sent to prison.” The women’s case was different to that of the men, he said and merited a different punishment.

“They left for a better life, not a holiday,” argued the lawyer.

Inspector Roberts replied that this would have made sense had they been arriving from Somalia, but in this case, they were in Greece.

All four defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to six months in prison, each.

“Please help me,” one of the women said as she was being led away.

The children will be placed under a care order.