By: Justicia Shipena
Although Icelandic laws indicate that it does not extradite its citizens, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood says Namibia submitting an extradition request for fishrot suspects in the country could force it to act.
This comes after the research agency and Transparency International Iceland has called on Iceland and Namibia to do more to ensure fishrot suspects are held accountable.
According to Hopwood, international laws show Namibia can submit its extradition request.
“Then, if the Icelandic authorities turn it down, they have an obligation under the UN Convention against corruption to charge the people in their own country,” he said.
He expressed that it is suitable for Namibia to send the extradition, which will have much evidence attached.
“Then the Icelandic authorities will be forced to react. They say they can’t be extradited, but if they do that, they are obliged to prosecute them in their country,” he said.
He stressed that is the process that is expected to happen. However, he said it is taking a long time.
Hopwood said Iceland has suspects who were involved in driving the corruption scheme but has not arrested anybody.
“But here we are more than two years after the fishrot exposé, and Iceland hasn’t moved to arrest the main suspects,” he said.
Last year, Icelandic authorities said they would not hand over Samherji executives to appear in the Namibian courts on allegations of bribery and corruption.
At that time, Namibia had indicated it wanted the officials extradited to appear in Namibian courts. At the back of it, the Iceland deputy prosecutor said according to Icelandic laws, the country does not extradite its citizens. Iceland’s Extradition of Criminals and Other Assistance in Criminal Proceedings Act states, “Icelandic citizens may not be extradited unless the request stems from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.”
Touching on the matter of lawyer Maren de Klerk, accused of being a paymaster in the fishrot scandal, Hopwood said Namibia requested the South African authorities to arrest him.
De Klerk is said to have fled to South Africa in January 2020 and has not returned.
“So he will be extradited, and he is among those charged, but I understand that the South African authorities are dragging their feet in this,” he said.
He added that the South African authorities are not acting on it, and it is partly because they say his whereabouts are not known.
He emphasised that there is a need for action to be taken on this.
During the bail hearing of the six men accused in the fishrot case, it was revealed that Maren De Klerk also benefited from his capacity totalling N$332 250.
“Being involved in the matter through Celax Investments number one Pty Ltd, Maren received N$7 679 549, and Moyo Estate CC (N$2 300 475) as well as De Klerk, Horn & Coetzee (DHC) (N$3 645 579).” De Klerk then benefited N$13 957 853 in the end, and N$4 681 518 was held in the trust account of DHC.
CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE MILLIONS
Moreover, Hopwood said although the suspects in Namibia have been charged, more people are involved in the corruption case who should not be excluded.
“And they can’t just be excluded from the investigation no matter who they are in terms of their position,” stressed Hopwood.
He stamped that everybody involved in the corruption scandal should be held accountable.
In a joint statement issued by IPPR Namibia and Transparency International Iceland seeking international accountability for the fishrot corruption scandal, the two said they welcome the ongoing visit of Namibian investigators and prosecutors to Iceland to discuss cooperation regarding prosecutions in the Fishrot corruption scandal.
“We are also encouraged by the simultaneous visit of a delegation led by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibia’s minister of international relations, to Iceland this week,” it reads.
The statement further reads that Transparency International Iceland and IPPR hope the visit of the international relations minister can be used as an opportunity for the two governments to boost cooperation in tackling corruption in both countries.
They add that it should boost the need to seek accountability in the fishrot case.
It further states that reports that prosecutor-general Martha Imalwa and deputy director-general of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Erna van der Merwe are in Iceland, meeting with Icelandic investigators and prosecutors, show sign of possible cooperation in this transnational criminal investigation.
“I think that shows that they are starting to cooperate and share evidence. We hope it will lead to the prosecution in Iceland being speeded up. So there is some sign of hope here,” Hopwood told The Villager.
According to them, the mutual cooperation aligns with Namibia’s and Iceland’s commitments under the UN Convention against corruption.
“We note that as of 7 June 2022, Namibia has not yet formally delivered its request for the extradition of three Icelandic suspects wanted in Namibia in relation to fishrot,” it read.
Additionally, they urged justice minister Yvonne Dausab to make her decision regarding extradition as soon as possible.
“Citizens of both countries had expressed, through public protests, news investigations and civil society efforts, that it cannot be right that only Namibian citizens are held legally accountable for fishrot when the corruption scandal involved individuals in Iceland.”
10 SUSPECTS ARRESTED THUS FAR
In January this year, Namibia failed to submit extradition requests to force suspects in Iceland to face criminal charges in Namibia relating to the fishrot case. During this time, the justice ministry, which the ACC has accused of failing to do its job, has refused to provide clarity, claiming that the case is sensitive.
While Imalwa, in February last year, announced that the fishrot-linked Icelandic executives would face criminal charges.
However, little appears to have been done to hold Icelandic officials accountable for their role in the N$2,5 billion case.
In this light, the justice ministry was accused of dragging out the process.
In February this year, the justice ministry’s acting executive director, Simataa Limbo, had labelled it as a sensitive matter.
In September 2021, it was reported that the delay in the extradition process caused friction between the justice ministry and the ACC, with the ACC accusing the justice ministry of failing to ensure the three Icelandic nationals have their day in court.
The fishrot corruption scandal involves allegations that Icelandic fishing company, Samherji, paid millions of dollars in bribes to a group of Namibian politicians and businessmen in return for fishing quotas. This allegedly occurred over seven years, from 2012 to 2019.
At the moment, ten suspects, including two Namibian former cabinet ministers, have been arrested in connection to the scheme and are awaiting trial.
At least eight suspects are under investigation in Iceland.
However, no Icelandic citizens have been charged in Iceland concerning the case, while Namibia has named three Icelandic suspects, senior figures in Samherji.
The Namibian government is reported to be in the process of finalising its extradition request for the three Icelandic suspects.
