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.