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Nairobi: Armenian Brothers travelled with shared passport

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  • Nairobi: Armenian Brothers travelled with shared passport

    The Standard, Kenya
    July 1 2006

    Brothers travelled with shared passport



    By PATRICK MATHANGANI and BIKETI KIKECHI

    The Artur passports mystery deepened yesterday as it emerged they
    used the same travel document at least once and were cleared by the
    Immigration Department.

    Also, when they were kicked out of Kenya, none of the names in their
    air tickets corresponded with the names in the deportation order
    signed by Immigration minister, Gideon Konchella.

    It was further revealed that when Artur Sagarsyan was deported,
    immigration officials gave him a travel certificate exclusively
    reserved for Kenyans wishing to travel within East Africa.

    This means Sagarsyan can still travel to Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania
    until July 9, the expiry date of the certificate that should have
    been valid only for the day he travelled.

    The principal Immigration Officer in charge of Jomo Kenyatta
    International Airport, Mr John Cheruiyot, said despite the security
    issue raised by the discrepancies, the Arturs were still allowed to
    travel.

    JKIA is regarded as Kenya's most secure airport, and travellers are
    extensively vetted before boarding planes. Cheruiyot admitted that if
    such discrepancies had been noted on a foreigner entering the
    country, he or she would have been turned back. When the Armenians
    finally left, no records were kept at JKIA to show they had been
    deported.

    "Our system does not capture deportation. Anybody going through the
    system won't know if they were deported," Cheruiyot told the
    commission sitting at Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

    Despite the inconsistencies in their travel tickets, Kenya Airways
    allowed the foreigners to travel, following consultations with the
    immigration department, he said.

    Evidence adduced by businessman Raju Sangani showed the two first
    came to Kenya on November 10, 2005. Sangani sent his `acquaintances'
    to meet them at the airport.

    However, Cheruiyot said records at the Immigration Department show
    while Artur Margaryan came to Kenya on the said date, Sargasyan
    arrived on December 13, 2005.

    He produced the records showing the Arturs' movement in and out of
    Kenya from the first day to the date they were deported.

    Instead, the records show it was a man named Arthur Gevorkyan who
    accompanied Margaryan to Kenya on November 10. It emerged that this
    is the passport Sargasyan had used when he first came to Kenya in the
    company of Margaryan on November 10.

    When he was finally deported, Margaryan used Gevorkyan's passport,
    meaning the two brothers used the same passport on different dates
    and were cleared to travel.

    Cheruiyot told the commission of inquiry investigating the conduct of
    the Artur brothers that he was learning for the first time about how
    they kept changing their identities. "After looking at these records,
    I realise they played a trick," Cheruiyot told a hushed sitting.
    Records further show none of the Artur's travelled on the day they
    held a press conference at JKIA's VIP lounge, which is reserved for
    senior people in the Government and dignitaries.

    On that day, (March 13, 2006) records show it was the man named as
    Gevorkyan who arrived from Dubai.

    Cheruiyot said Kenya does not have a document to issue to deportees.
    In the case of Sargasyan, officials had to improvise and gave him one
    reserved for Kenyans travelling in East Africa, he said.

    He explained that they forgot to cancel the segment that gave
    Sargasyan the go ahead to return.
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