A YEMENI man and his two wives are standing trial in a Bahrain court in connection to fraud.
One of the wives, a 46-year-old Saudi woman, allegedly gave her passport to the other, a 32-year-old Yemeni woman, who used it to illegally travel to the UK from Bahrain International Airport on February 4.
On the same day, the Saudi woman attempted to cross King Fahad Causeway into Saudi Arabia with her smart card.
However, she was arrested when authorities uncovered that her passport was already used to leave the country earlier that day.
The Saudi woman and her Yemeni husband, aged 37, have been charged with fraud and forgery, which they pleaded not guilty to when they appeared at the High Criminal Court.
But the Yemeni woman is still at large and is being tried in absentia.
The 46-year-old told prosecutors in her statement that she gave the other wife her passport to travel to the UK with her children as part of a plan to seek asylum.
However, she added that she only helped her in order to “get rid of her”.
“I was stopped by Bahraini authorities at King Fahad Causeway when they asked me for my passport,” she said in her statement to the Public Prosecution.
“I gave them my CPR and told them that I lost my passport in Bahrain, which was not true.
“I actually gave my passport to my husband’s Yemeni wife to use to travel to the UK.
“I wanted to get rid of her and when my husband told me to give her my passport so she could seek asylum in the UK I was more than happy to do so.
“I just wanted to get rid of her and did not mean to break the law.”
The hearing has been adjourned until next Monday for review.
noorz@gdn.com.bh