Afghan young woman acquitted despite driving license forgery
An Afghan young woman appeared before the Bezirksgericht Feldbach court in Austria after she submitted an Afghan driving license for the purpose of exchanging it, which later turned out to be completely forged. She was not charged with forging the document itself, but with attempted deception, which her lawyer strongly denied, asserting that she did not know the license was forged until after the technical investigations were completed.
The lawyer explained that his client was one of the few women allowed to obtain a driver's license during the Taliban rule, and her father always accompanied her during that time. Her father still resides in Kabul and has received an official confirmation from the issuing authority in Kabul after the incident, confirming that the license is valid in Afghanistan. This document was submitted as an official document to the court, accompanied by its translation into English and German, along with the original envelope that was only opened in front of the court.
The lawyer confirmed that they do not deny the forgery, but they were not aware of it until after the investigation results were released. No one knows how this "complete forgery" appeared.
The young woman herself expressed her confusion through a translator: "I don't know how that happened." She is currently in the process of obtaining a new driver's license in Austria, having already passed the theoretical exam, with only the practical exam remaining. In Afghanistan, she was not required to take any practical exam, which surprised Judge Elisabeth Schwarz, who wondered how her driving ability was verified back then.
At the end of the session, the judge decided to acquit the young woman due to the unclear circumstances of the forgery, noting that the accused had done everything she could to prove her possession of a driving license.