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An Iraqi man who claims he fled Saddam Hussein's brutal regime pleaded for a second chance during his sentencing yesterday in the Auckland District Court for lying to authorities to obtain a passport.
Salam Mansoor Abdelabbas Al-Bawi, a 33-year-old driving instructor, came to New Zealand in 2000 on a false Danish passport and later applied for New Zealand citizenship and a passport using a fake name. He also didn't reveal a violence conviction.
Al Bawi told Judge Chris Field he had been fearful for his safety in Iraq and pleaded to be given a second chance at life.
His family had been victimised in Iraq over many years, he said.
"I still can't believe the Saddam government is gone ... give me another chance in this life please," he said.
Al-Bawi said he had planned to come clean about his true identity when he was caught by authorities.
Crown prosecutor Kristin Cato said that even after making three overseas trips on the New Zealand passport he'd obtained Al-Bawi still didn't reveal his true identity.
"It's a lot like the bank robber saying he'd return the million dollars ... how much weight can you place on it," Ms Cato said.
Defence lawyer David Ryken said Al-Bawi hadn't disclosed his identity because he was scared the information might get back to Iraq.
Mr Ryken said Al-Bawi had been a political detainee and "came to us as a man who had been through a lot".
Judge Field said he accepted the Crown's view that Al-Bawi's offending was premeditated and that such crimes could significantly harm the credibility of the country's passport system.
Despite his claims he was going to reveal his wrongdoing, that was "too little too late", the judge said.
"I accept as genuine your feelings of remorse but there is the need to deter offending of this kind and defend the integrity of the passport system," he said.
Al-Bawi was sentenced to six months of home detention.
