The High Criminal Court has commenced the trial of five defendants, including a businessman, in connection with a case involving the forgery of signatures and seals attributed to the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports, and Residence Affairs (NPRA). The accused allegedly used these forged documents to stamp the travel papers of the fifth defendant and to falsify a passport. Lawyer Abdulatheem Abbas Hubail, representing the detained fifth defendant, requested additional time to prepare his defense. The court has scheduled the next hearing for December 23, 2024. The public prosecutor has charged the defendants, from the first to the fourth, with committing forgery from 2017 to 2023. They are accused of duplicating and forging signatures and seals attributed to the relevant governmental authority and using these for stamping the travel document of the fifth defendant. Additionally, they are charged with forging an official document, specifically a passport issued by the Kingdom of Bahrain for the fifth defendant, by employing legally established forgery methods, including falsifying signatures and affixing counterfeit seals, with the intent to use it as a legitimate document.