Breach of duty: customs officer's trial on sept 1

Manama

The hearing of Defence witnesses in the trial of four accused in connection with illegal entry into Bahrain was set on September 1. The accused include a customs officer and three Chinese women, and the indictment says the former allowed the trio to enter the Kingdom without completing airport formalities. 

His alleged misconduct came to the fore when authorities apprehended one of the Chinese women, who was roaming in Bahrain with a stay visa. Investigation into her case discovered the woman was banned from entering Bahrain.

It’s said the woman was in the country for the first time from November 12, 2009 to July 27, 2011, when she was deported, according to court files. However, the reason for the deportation was not specified. 

Further investigation revealed the woman’s passport wasn’t stamped upon her arrival back to the country on January 17 this year before being arrested on February, 19, almost after a month’s stay. 

Her name was also not entered in the airport’s entry system. The pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place when police reviewed the CCTV cameras installed in the airport. They found the arrested customs officer giving access to the Chinese woman without stamping her passport, nor entering her name into the system. 

“When I was deported, a Chinese man told me he could help me to fly back to Bahrain. He was himself banned from Bahrain, but managed to enter without being caught,” the woman said in her statement. “He asked me to pay 10,000 Chinese yen (around BD607). I transferred the money to him and he provided me with the details on my flight date. 

“He told me a Bahraini man would come to receive me and would sort out the formalities at the airport. When we landed, a Bahrain customs officer approached me and asked my name. He then took my passport and asked me to wait. A few minutes later, he motioned to follow him,” the accused told prosecutors.

CCTV footage showed the officer holding the passports of the three women and escorting them out of the terminal. The other two Chinese women have been also arrested, as per the police records.  Prosecutors charged the Bahraini customs officer of abuse of authority, while the Chinese trio was charged with entering Bahrain illegally.