THE visit by senior Namibian government officials to Iceland has been welcomed.
This comes amid calls for the government to formally deliver a request for the extradition of three Icelandic suspects wanted in Namibia in connection with the Fishrot corruption saga.
This week, international relations and cooperation minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was on a two-day visit to Iceland to, among others, discuss the extradition of Samherji executives linked to the Fishrot scandal.
"We urge that the minister of justice in Namibia, Yvonne Dausab, make her decision known regarding extradition as soon as possible, in the interest of justice and due process of law, having special regard to Article 44 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (which deals with extradition matters)," Transparency International Iceland (TI-IS) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said in a joint statement yesterday.
Icelandic bi-weekly newspaper Stundin said on Tuesday that Dausab had confirmed that a formal extradition request still hasn't been sent to Iceland.
"Senior staff at the legal services directorate within the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the formal extradition request has not yet been sent to Iceland, and that it currently with the Office of the Prosecutor General for their consideration and finalisation. The request would then be signed by the minister for onward transmission," Dausab said.
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TI-IS and the IPPR said citizens of both countries have 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 clearly involved individuals in Iceland as well.
They said that prosecutor general Martha Imalwa and deputy director general of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Erna van der Merwe, also being in Iceland meeting with Icelandic investigators and prosecutors augurs well for possible cooperation in terms of the transnational criminal investigation.
TI-IS and the IPPR hope the visits can be used as an opportunity for the two governments to boost cooperation on tackling corruption in both countries and, in particular, the need to seek accountability in the Fishrot case.
Stundin reported on Tuesday that the possible extradition of Icelandic individuals to Namibia was discussed at a meeting between Nandi-Ndaitwah and Icelandic prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
Jakobsdóttir said in her reply to Stundin: "During a courtesy visit . . . Nandi-Ndaitwah discussed, among other things, the Samherji case, which is under investigation in both countries. It was stated that cooperation with the Icelandic investigative authorities had been good, and that a request for the extradition of three Icelanders had been made to the relevant Icelandic authorities."
The three Icelanders in question are Adalsteinn Helgason, Egill Helgi Árnason, and Ingvar Júlíusson.
