Saving Iceland

Saving Iceland
28 July 2007

In view of the police repression and slander campaign unleashed against Saving Iceland in the last few days by the Icelandic State and National Broadcaster RUV we feel it is important that this is compared with the following article from our campaign in 2005. This is particularly relevant in terms of the resurfacing threats of deportations.

UPDATE
December 2005
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.

No actual deportations of anti-dam protestors took place in 2005! People who were on the Icelandic Immigration list for possible deportation are all perfectly free to travel back to Iceland.

An official inquiry into the conduct of the Icelandic authorities and police during the summer and autumn of 2005 is underway.

Saving Iceland
September 2005

Hildur Dungal, director of the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration stated on Saturday 20 August in an interview with Reykjavik newspaper DV that “No list exists of people that the Directorate of Immigration would like to deport…”

Eehemm… In front of us here at savingiceland.org lies a copy of a fax from the almighty Directorate sent to the Icelandic State Police stating in bold capitals “CONTENT: REQUEST FOR DELIVERY OF LETTERS OF EXPECTED DEPORTATION AND REFUSAL OF RE-ENTRY” Beneath is a demand that the police “…track down the individuals listed below and make them sign the enclosed letters…”

Beneath is a list of 21 foreign people!

The letter has the heading of the Directorate of Immigration and is dated 11. August and rubber stamped with the insignia of the Directorate of Immigration.

This is the very list that has prompted the Icelandic police to persecute foreign people in Reykjavik through out the month of August and to perform several illegal arrests.

This is not the first time Hildur Dungal has resorted to highly questionable use of the concept of truth. Infact it was Hildur Dungal who first started using the term “professional demonstrators” in the Icelandic media as early as this spring, long before any foreign people had arrived in Iceland to demonstrate against the destruction of Icelandic nature and the corporate invasion of Icelandic society. In Icelandic the term “professional” implies that one is paid for what one is supposed to be professional at. Her use of the word “professional” can then only be understood as slander against people Dungal knows nothing about as they have not even entered the country whose borders her directorate is supposed to guard.

Apart from twisting the thruth Dungal also likes to talk tough. This spring she announced that the Directorate of Immigration would investigate the possibility of refusing entry into the country to all environmentalists! Obviously this was just an attempt to deter any foreign people to use their legitimate right to demonstrate this summer in Iceland. But it backfired and she later had to admit her office had no legal right to refuse people entry on the grounds of wanting to demonstrate, even if people admitted that that was their intent on arrival.

We find it even more interesting that in the same interview in DV last Saturday Dungal is suddenly at pains not only to deny the existence of the list but also that the requests for deportations and the letters people have been signing, with a little help from Icelandic cop thugs, necessarily mean that they will be deported or refused re-entry at all.

Could this signify that the tough talking Director is now doubting the legal ground she stands on, again?

See also: ‘We who have been protesting…’