Deportation papers have been issued for 21 people involved in the blockade at the Karahnjukar dam construction site on the 19th July and an action at the Alcoa alluminium smelter plant in the Reyðarfjörður on the 4th August.
At the first action no one was formally arrested and no charges were brought against them. At the Alcoa action people were arrested for tresspass and “ endangering the lives of other people for the purposes of profit ”, these charges were later dropped. This means that none of the people being deported have been charged with or convicted of any criminal activity. In Iceland tresspass is only illegal if the landowners decide to press charges, which they have not, partly because they don´t want to draw any more attention to their ILLEGAL alluminum smelter. The deportation papers are a complete sham with the main basis being that apparently the whole camp stated orally and in writing that they will continue protesting. The evidence they are using is THIS website and an interview with one person on the Icelandic TV and radio. People have been illegally and aggresively snatched off the street as well as our sleeping space being illegally invaded in order for these papers to be issued. At present we are in communication with an Icelandic lawyer who is in the process of appealing the deportation papers and working with us to have a public enquiery in the conduct of the police against us.
The Directorate of Immigration finally ruled that it had no right to deport any of these people.
The threats of deportations were in fact nothing but illegal persecution of people who were exercising their democratic rights to protest against the crimes of a highly autocratic and corrupt government.
This is exactly what was pointed out in the article ‘Surprise, surprise!’ as early as September 2005.
https://www.savingiceland.org/?p=144
I reckon this information is not very fresh, is it? If you know anything new (have the people been actually deported or the lawyer won the appeal??) please post it so we can read it! Thanxs!
PS: don´t give up the fight!! well done!!!