A student was sentenced to 3 years of hard labor on Monday for forging a Lebanese Baccalaureate degree.
The Beirut Criminal Court issued the ruling in absentia, stripping Syrian national Mohammad Nuhad Al-Abbas of his civil rights, confiscating his assets and preventing him from using them.
An arrest warrant was also issued for Al-Abbas, who has been ordered to pay the plaintiff a total of 3 million Lebanese pounds as compensation for damages, according to the National News Agency.
Back in 2013, the defendant applied for enrollment at the private University of Kalamoon in Syria with a fake document indicating that he had passed the 2013 Official Baccalaureate Exams in Lebanon – Life Sciences section.
The Education Ministry document is dated 29/03/2013 and bears the number 1478.
An investigation by the Ministry’s Department of Official Exams revealed that Al-Abbas’s degree was not compatible with official records, and the document was hence considered invalid and deemed forged.
It’s worth noting that the defendant never attended any interrogation or court sessions for this case, despite having been informed of their dates. He was tried in absentia as a result.
*Photo used for illustrative purposes only.
