An Iranian who fled his country to avoid serving a prison term over illegal wine production was given a suspended sentence, for using someone else’s passport to enter Malta.

Daroonparvar Amir, 27, from Abadan, landed in Malta two days ago from Turkey and was found in possession of a valid Egyptian passport, whose true holder had great resemblance to the Iranian. 

The court heard how the accused had acquired this document for €1,000. Sources said that were it not for some discrepancies between the man’s nose and the photo on his travel document, the case would not have been flagged.

Police inspector Franki Sammut who led the prosecution said that the defendant hailed from a wealthy family who possessed large tracts of agricultural land in Iran.

The man’s brother found himself in hot water after being caught with 800 litres of wine, and was sentenced to six years in jail for the simple fact that this alcoholic beverage is strictly banned in this Muslim country.

Though the jail term was subsequently halved following an appeal, the accused offered to serve the sentence instead of his brother as the latter had a family and two children.

The defendant managed to abscond during the period when he was held under house arrest pending the court’s decision to uphold his request.  The prosecution said that the accused was not in possession of a passport as the Iranian authorities only issued such document to persons who had served a minimum of two years in the military service.

During proceedings no explanation was given on the fate of the man’s brother.

In his submissions, legal aid lawyer Martin Fenech requested the court to be lenient saying this was a humanitarian case. Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona sentenced the Iranian to three months in jail suspended for a year. The man will be kept detention pending his application for asylum.