UAE court upholds jail term for passport forgery
Man sentenced to six months and deportation after serving term
Abu Dhabi: The Federal Supreme Court has upheld a ruling sentencing a man to six months in prison and deportation after completing the sentence for forging a passport and residency permit. The court also ordered the confiscation of the forged documents seized in the case.
According to court records, prosecutors charged the defendant with collaborating with an unidentified accomplice to forge an official passport document. The man allegedly provided his personal details and photograph to enable the passport to be falsified and used as a legitimate document, with the aim of evading the provisions of the UAE’s law governing the entry and residency of foreigners, Emarat Al Youm reported.
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Prosecutors also accused him of assisting in the forgery of an official entry visa for a 90-day stay by presenting the forged passport to a public employee acting in good faith, which resulted in the issuance of a residency permit based on the falsified document.
He later used the forged passport and residency permit by presenting them to the relevant authorities, prosecutors said, in an attempt to bypass the legal requirements governing entry and residence in the country. He also faced charges of providing false information to officials and entering the UAE illegally.
The Court of Appeal’s State Security Chamber had earlier sentenced the defendant to six months in prison, ordered his deportation after serving the sentence and ruled that the forged documents be confiscated, in addition to requiring him to pay court costs.
The Public Prosecution challenged the ruling before the Federal Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court had misapplied the law because the offence of forging a passport and residency permit to evade immigration regulations carries a harsher penalty of temporary imprisonment.
However, the Federal Supreme Court rejected the appeal, explaining that under Article 32 of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners, provisions relating to suspended sentences, substitution of penalties and judicial pardons do not apply to offences specified under the law.
The court found that the lower court had correctly applied the law when it convicted the defendant, considered mitigating circumstances under Article 99 of the Penal Code and imposed a six-month prison term, deportation after completion of the sentence and confiscation of the forged documents.
