The Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court has convicted five Pakistan nationals for misuse of documents contrary to Section 34 of the Immigration Act.
Hussein Wajid, 31, Imran Zwane, 25, Shakir Awayin, 33, Zaman Iman, 33, and Alik Hamad, 21, appeared before senior resident magistrate Patrick Moyo where they pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court heard that the five presented false travelling documents to immigration officials at Lilongwe International Airport on August 4 2013, claiming to be British citizens en route to Europe from Asia.
In his plea, one of the convicts, Wajid, said their actions were a result of ill-advice.
“We met a stranger at the airport who gave us British passports and advised us that Malawian laws forbid use of any passport other than Malawian or British.
“Yes, we committed the crime, but we did not know that what we were doing was illegal,” he added.
The Pakistanis travelled from Pakistan through Dubai and Addis Ababa and arrived at Lilongwe International Airport by Ethiopian Airlines on their way to United Kingdom.
State prosecutor Goodwin Binali told the court that airport officials became suspicious of the five after noting that identification pictures on their travel documents did not match their faces and that they had different names from those appearing on the passports.
He said evidence indicated that although the five claimed to be British citizens, they could not speak basic English and were travelling with their Pakistan passports.
Binali said communication from British High Commission established that the travelling documents the five presented were fake.
The case has been adjourned to Monday for sentencing.
