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Man Sentenced to Jail After €15,000 Tampered Passport Fail to Fool Immigration

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Nimrah Khatoon
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In a bid to escape his circumstances and find a better life, a 32-year-old Iraqi national, Husam Hamad, paid €15,000 for a tampered passport to travel from Turkey to Ireland. However, his plans were thwarted when he was arrested at the Malta International Airport.
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A Desperate Quest for a Brighter Future

According to his lawyer, Husam Hamad fled Iraq in 2014 due to the war and violence that plagued his country. He travelled to Turkey where he applied for asylum but was denied. He then decided to buy a tampered passport from a smuggler for €15,000, hoping to reach Ireland where he had relatives and friends. He said he was desperate and had no other choice. Hamad was about to board a flight to Ireland, which is a non-Schengen country and travel documents are scrutinized before departure, when immigration authorities at the Malta International Airport detected a suspicious Australian passport.
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Prompted by the discovery, the police were alerted, and Hamad was taken into custody. After consulting with a legal aid lawyer, he admitted to purchasing the tampered passport in Turkey for €15,000.

The Smuggler's Scheme and Legal Consequences

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Husam Hamad was arraigned in court on Friday and pleaded guilty to using a false document and making a false declaration. He was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of €2,329. He will also face deportation proceedings after serving his sentence.\
Despite being given time to reconsider, he maintained his guilty plea. Hamad said he was desperate and had no other choice. The prosecution argued for a minimum term of effective imprisonment due to Hamad's clean criminal record.
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