Suspended sentence for Serbian woman who altered passport after overstaying visa

A court has handed a suspended sentence to a Serbian woman who found love in Malta and tampered with her passport to extend her stay here.

Inspector Mario Haber presented 29-year-old Jasmina Mijatovic before Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras this morning and charged her with altering a passport, making use of a falsified public document and falsifying immigration documents.

Inspector Haber explained that she had been arrested after an investigation into false stamps on passports had been carried out.

The woman’s lawyer, Francois Dalli, explained to the magistrate that she had met a man in Malta and fallen in love. As she was overstaying her visa, she altered her passport. The couple, however, had subsequently married and were setting up a family, he said.

"This was a simple mistake that she will not be doing again" said Dalli. “Now that they are married, the visa issue no longer applies as she is married to a Maltese citizen.”

The magistrate explained to the accused that the implications could include up to two years in prison, but Mijatovic insisted on pleading guilty to the charges.

"It is a very serious offence to tamper with a passport," said the magistrate. The woman nodded, repeating "never again". Taking into account her early admission, the court handed down a sentence of nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years.