Iranian wrongly charged with human trafficking

An Iranian man who came to Malta on a family holiday last March was yesterday cleared of human smuggling and released after spending three months in custody.

The 34-year-old restaurateur and nightclub owner, Kali Reza Farzkenari, flew in from Tunis on March 29 to celebrate the Iranian New Year with his family. Instead, he ended up in prison after he was arrested at the airport together with another 32 Iranians travelling on the same flight, all later found guilty of carrying false passports and deported.

Unbeknown to him, they were carrying passports marked with false Shenghen visas and the police suspected him of smuggling the group into Malta.

Handing down judgement yesterday, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said the group happened to be staying at the same hotel in Tunis. A man there had asked Mr Farzkenari to look after them as he spoke better English than they did. He accepted and, on landing in Malta, this association with the group made the police suspicious.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that, when asked, all the witnesses testified that it was not Mr Farzkenari who had made the arrangements for them to come to Malta; a Tunisian man called Hamid had arranged everything. It was in fact this Hamid who had asked Mr Farzkenari to look after the group and to act as a translator in the event they found themselves in any difficulty.

The court noted that, from the examination of the evidence produced by the prosecution, it turned out that Mr Farzkenari was not part of the illegal organisation that brought the group to Malta.

She therefore acquitted him.

Mr Farzkenari, who holds Dutch and Canadian passports, was a refugee from Iran some time ago but had since returned to his homeland.

Police Inspectors Edel Mary Camilleri and Nezren Grixti prosecuted.

Lawyers Chris Bonett and Maxilene Cassar appeared for Mr Farzkenari.