Two men who were charged with forging passports yesterday took to the witness stand to testify in the case against an Algerian man who allegedly helped them obtain the passports.

Before Magistrate Giovanni Grixti, 39-year-old Algerian-born Djilali Douib, a Bugibba resident, pleaded not guilty to assisting people to leave Malta illegally and forging a passport.

Magistrate Grixti had previously given a Turkish man a seven-month jail term suspended for one year after he pleaded guilty to forging a passport.

After a judgement was handed down in his regard, Ramazan Polat, 30, who also lives in Bugibba, but will be repatriated, took to the witness stand and said Mr Douib had given him a contact number of a certain Badir, a French resident.

Polat told the court he had then phoned Badir and sent him e1,000 in exchange of the forged passport.

The second man to testify in Mr Douib’s case was a Moroccan who was conditionally discharged on Thursday after he admitted to forging a passport to visit his sick mother undergoing medical treatment in Spain.

Issam Ramli, 25, said he needed to go to Spain as soon as possible and had spoken to Mr Douib, who he said

was known to be able to obtain necessary documentation quickly.

Ramli said he had paid Mr Douib Lm600 and obtained a passport in two weeks, but never asked for a forged passport. He said it would have taken more than a month to obtain a passport by applying through the authorities.

Ramli added that Mr Douib had also offered to buy a ticket to travel to Genoa by ship.

The accused was denied bail and remanded in custody.

Police Inspector Sandro Zarb prosecuted. Dr Patrick Valentino appeared for Polat, while Dr Franco Debono and Dr Charmaine Cherrett appeared for Mr Douib.