Sent to prison, after their conviction by the Kilkis Three-member Misdemeanor Court, the two citizens of North Macedonia who were arrested, because they tried to enter the Greek territory – through the border station of Doirani – having in their possession a total of 599 forged travel documents from various European countries. The two foreign defendants, 26 and 43 years old, were tried at noon on Saturday with the automatic procedure and were punished with a total sentence of 5 years in prison, each.
The court found them guilty of forgery and conspiracy (for committing a misdemeanor for financial gain), “showing” them the way to prison, since, according to the judges’ verdict, the above sentence was not suspended or commuted, and furthermore no stay of execution was given pending appeal.
They had been arrested in the previous 24 hours at the border station of Doirani, from where the two men tried to cross into Greek territory by I.X. car. When the experienced officers of the Passport Control Department subjected them to a scrutinization it was revealed that they were carrying hundreds of blank travel documents. As EL.AS announced, 440 documents were found well hidden in the lining of the 23-year-old driver’s jacket, while the remaining 159 were found in the trunk of the vehicle.
According to the case file, it was a case of forged or falsified documents – without identity information – from various European countries. Among other things, blank identity cards, residence and driver’s licenses were found, allegedly issued in countries of the Old Continent (Greece, France, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, etc.). Information states that they were faithful copies of official documents and bore watermarks, official flags and names of states, while they were sent to the Sub-Directorate of Criminal Investigations of Northern Greece for laboratory examination
So far, it remains unknown in which hands these would end up and if the two convicts were acting on behalf of other persons – members of an organized circuit. However, it is considered certain by the prosecuting authorities that the documents would be used – probably for a fee – to facilitate people with illegal residence status in Europe in view of their stay and/or their movement from one country to another.
The defendants in their apology avoided revealing evidence of their actions, respecting the right to remain silent.
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