A Yemeni man facing four sexual assault charges involving four Vancouver people will be given his passport back so he can get a new passport and update his student visa.
Hussein Sharaf Al-Shami is charged in connection with three incidents that occurred on April 27, 2023, and one on May 3, 2023. The identities of the victims are covered by a publication ban.
Defence lawyer Michael Mines told Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Harbans Dhillon that Al-Shami has entered a plea and is to be sentenced on Jan. 29.
He is in Canada on a student visa.
One condition of his bail was that he surrender his passport to police.
However, Mines said, in order to renew his visa, Al-Shami needs his passport.
The court heard Al-Shami's passport is about to expire so he needs to obtain new travel documents.
Al-Shami said he would have to send his passport to Yemeni officials in Washington, D.C. for a new passport to be issued.
Dhillon agreed to a new release order.
She said he can retrieve his passport from police for the sole purpose of renewing it. Any new travel documents must then be surrendered to police, she said.
“You must not obtain any further travel documents without permission of the court,” Dhillon said.
She said if he absconds or leaves, serious legal consequences would follow.
Dhillon also ordered that Al-Shami not leave B.C. without permission from his bail supervisor.
