An Italian national accused of stealing a pair of sunglasses from a duty-free shop at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport was ordered released Thursday on bail of TL 50,000 ($9,187).

The suspect, identified only by his initials F.G., was a member of the city council in Italy's Bari and was traveling from Dubai to Italy. While waiting for a connecting flight at Atatürk Airport on Jan. 7, he visited a duty-free shop and was accused of shoplifting sunglasses worth 185 euros.

He was stopped by police at the airport and was taken into custody. F.G. told the court that he would have placed the sunglasses back onto the shelf after showing it to his wife waiting outside the shop, but forgot it when he decided to go to the bathroom before returning to the shop. He offered to pay the price of sunglasses.