Bahrain Mirror: The First High Criminal Court in Bahrain convicted a 60-year-old Bahraini businessman of using his brother's identity card to travel by land to the United Arab Emirates, despite a previous decision banning him from traveling, sentencing him to one year imprisonment.

The defendant, who was released on bail of 300 dinars by the Public Prosecution, denied that he used his brother's identity card with ill intention as he was heading to the United Arab Emirates via the King Fahd Causeway, claiming that he mistakenly handed the wrong ID card. He also said during his interrogation that the reason he had his brother's ID is because there is a lawsuit regarding a family inheritance dispute, adding that he was not aware of the travel ban.

The customs officer; however, stated that the defendant was deliberately hiding part of his face by the head piece he was wearing when he called out the name of the card holder more than once, which was why he questioned the identity of the accused, in addition to the fact that the picture on the card did not match the features of his face.

The case documents showed that the accused had been prohibited from traveling since 14/12/2015, and an order was issued to terminate the travel ban on 14/2/2018.

The court found that the defendant used on 24/10/2016 the official identity card of his brother with ill intention.

Arabic Version