A Turkish prosecutor has been released from custody by Mr Justice John Brennan at Cloverhill District Court after coming to Ireland on a fake German passport.
The court heard evidence from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) that Sadullah Ovacikli (44) presented at the arrivals of Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport with a German passport in the name of Felix Christian Muller.
Found to be in possession of a Turkish driver’s licence and a Turkish national ID card made out to the name of Sadullah Ovacikli Gardaí at Dublin airport arrested him on suspicion of traveling to Ireland on false documentation at which point he made an asylum claim.
Entering a guilty plea before the courts this morning, he addressed the court via video link and with the aid of a Turkish interpreter saying, “I really would like to explain my situation”.
Garda Christopher Glennon of the GNIB explained that on the 11th of September last Ovacikli arrived in Dublin on a flight from Athens. When found to be in possession of the fake passport, he was refused entry into the state before being conveyed to Dublin Airport Garda station. He was cautioned that the penalty for the offence was a €3,000 fine and 12 months in jail.
GNIB officers demanded that he produce any other travel documents in his possession after he was found with the Turkish drivers licence and national ID card, however he was unable to produce anything further.
He was charged in relation to Section 11 of the Immigration Act at which point he made no reply.
The court heard that Ovacikli has no previous convictions in Ireland but that he does have a conviction in Turkey, however Gardaí are still awaiting information as to the nature of the conviction.
Ovacikli’s defence counsel, Miss Eloise Flynn argued that her client was an asylum seeker and would not have been able to get on a plane with the two forms of legitimate ID found in his possession.
Gardaí accepted that it was the case that he would not have been able to board a plane with the legitimate documents he had.
Flynn argued that her client was himself a prosecutor in Turkey and “found prison extremely difficult” as “a foreign national” and because of “overcrowding” as well as the different kinds of offenders with which he was surrounded.
She also argued that he had been subjected to “racial” abuse in prison because English is not his first language.
Flynn asked the court to structure any sentence given to Ovacikli in such a way that it would allow him to continue with his international protection application.
She asked the court to be “as lenient as possible” saying that Ovacikli is a father of three children aged 10 – 16. She said his wife, who now resides in the UK, was “very supportive” of her husband and had been in regular contact since his incarceration.
She also asked the court to take into consideration the length of his time already served in custody saying he was “very sorry for his actions”.
Judge Brennan asked Ovacikli why he had fled Turkey only in 2024 when the defendant claimed that he had been persecuted by the current political regime since 2016, but assured him that he did not have to explain this if he felt it might affect his asylum application.
Ovacikli said that he and other lawyers and judges had been targeted politically and that he had been prevented from renewing his passport and a travel ban had been put on him.
He said that the persecution commenced after the 2016 “military coup” and that his living and working circumstances were “awful” and that his family were in the same situation leading them to move to the UK last year.
He said he was unable to continue his career of 12 years as a prosecutor because of the situation in Turkey and that he was unable to gain other employment.
Judge Flynn said he was “aware of the background” of the political situation in Turkey and asked Gardaí if they had any evidence to refute the testimony of the defendant to which they said they did not.
The Judge said that the court needed to “send a message” that coming to Ireland on false papers was “very serious” however he noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the case before him, however he said that the defendant shouldn’t expect “special treatment” because he is a lawyer.
He added that “if anything” being a lawyer is an “aggravating circumstance” as Ovacikli should be aware that the laws of each land need to be obeyed.
He said he would “take judicial notice of what happened to lawyers and judges” in Turkey and that he was “accepting evidence in relation to personal circumstance” of Ovacikli.
He said that Ovacikli was “unable and prevented from leaving Turkey byway of the denial of his passport.”
He said that taking these matters into account and extenuating circumstance as well as the guilty plea that he was releasing Ovacikli with no conviction.
He said he was “satisfied that probation the act 1;1 can be applied due to circumstances” and took into account that Ovacikli had been in custody since September saying that he should be able to continue with his asylum application.