By Magdalene Mukami
NAIROBI
Two Iranian nationals arrested in Nairobi have confessed to being in the country illegally and holding forged Israeli passports, but pleaded with the court not to deport them back to Iran.
"I am pleading not to be repatriated to my country; we are going to encounter many problems," Zahra Kolabian, one of the defendants, told the court while sobbing uncontrollably.
"Because of the relationship between Israel and Iran, we might be executed by either the government or our clans," she said." I am kindly requesting to be taken anywhere else."
Kolabian, alias Adi Larian, and Hesamoddin Malmari Hatami, alias Avshalom Tsabari, were arrested on September 16 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with forged Israeli passports in their possession.
Kenyan authorities informed the Israeli Embassy in Nairobi and discovered that the passports were fake.
On further inspection, the two were also found in possession of two passports from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iranian authorities have confirmed the authenticity of the two passports and have asked for the suspects to be repatriated.
Kolabian told the court that they had been heading to the U.N.'s offices in Brussels where they had planned to seek political asylum.
Malmari, for his part, denied allegations that the pair had transited through Istanbul on their way to Kenya.
He insisted that they had been in Azerbaijan prior to their arrival to the African country.
Malmari urged the court to either refer their case to the U. N. refugee agency (UNHCR) or send them to the U.N.'s offices in Brussels.
The court has remanded the pair in custody until October 1.
The judge said the court would check with the UNHCR before setting a date for delivering its final verdict.
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