{"id":9166,"date":"2022-01-11T14:08:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions"},"modified":"2022-01-11T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:56:06","slug":"justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions","title":{"rendered":"Justice ministry delays Fishrot extraditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>THE state has failed to submit extradition requests which would force suspects in Iceland to face criminal charges in Namibia relating to the Fishrot case.<\/b><\/p>\n

The justice ministry, which has been accused by the Anti-Corruption Commision (ACC) of failing to do its job, has refused to provide clarity, claiming that the case is sensitive.<\/p>\n

This comes at a time when civil society organisations, such as Transparency International Iceland, have urged Namibia to take action against Icelandic officials implicated in the fishing corruption scandal.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa announced in February last year that the Fishrot-linked Icelandic executives will face criminal charges. However, little appears to have been done to hold Icelandic officials to account for their role in the N$2,5 billion case.<\/p>\n

The executives worked for Samherji, an Icelandic seafood company accused of bribing Namibian officials, including former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau and ex-justice minister Sacky Shanghala, to access Namibian fishing quotas from 2011 to 2019.<\/p>\n

The Samherji trio who face extradition are Ingvar J\u00fal\u00edusson, Egill Helgi \u00c1rnason, and Adalsteinn Helgason. The justice ministry, responsible for legal cooperation with other countries, is accused of dragging out the process.<\/p>\n

Last month, the ministry’s acting executive director, Simataa Limbo, told The Namibian that the matter is sensitive. \u201cIt’s confidential information. You know, this case is more sensitive than you realise. We are required to maintain confidentiality by the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shanghala, who is accused of corruption, worked as justice minister before he was arrested in 2019. His co-accused include Esau, former Investec Asset Management Namibia (now NinetyOne) James Hatuikulipi and ex-Fishcor CEO Mike Nghipunya. Questions sent to justice minister Yvonne Dausab last month were not answered.<\/p>\n

The Namibian reported in September last year 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was thus with utter dismay that our office took note of the contents of the recent communiqu\u00e9 received from your ministry, which clearly demonstrates that no attempt appears to have been made to process the extradition request,\u201d ACC’s deputy director general, Erna van der Merwe, wrote.<\/p>\n

A civil society organisation that is leading the fight against the Fishrot case in Iceland, believes the Namibian government is sensitive about anything to do with the Fishrot scandal. Thor Fanndal, the executive director of Transparency International Iceland, told The Namibian last month that he is worried about Namibia’s approach.<\/p>\n

He questioned why the Namibian government is worried about Iceland declining to extradite its citizens, when both states are signatories of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that everyone understands that the Fishrot case isn’t some minor scandal. It is grand corruption \u2013 the conspiracy of those in power to cheat the system, steal, bribe and enrich themselves,\u201d Fanndal said. He said because of the signatories, Samherji officials can be prosecuted in Iceland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIceland declining to extradite its citizens should therefore lead to the Samherji staff being prosecuted in Iceland. Without the extradition request, the Namibian authorities have delayed the prosecution of the Fishrot case unnecessarily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny government concerned by its legitimacy should stop at nothing to make sure those that orchestrated it are held responsible,\u201d Fanndal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet’s not forget that this is a case of corruption as an Icelandic export, so the Namibian authorities have no reason not to sign this request and force Iceland to take some responsibility in bringing justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood said most of the Fishrot accused are let off the hook by the authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s important that everyone implicated in the Fishrot scandal is held to account. We can’t just have the Namibian suspects facing trial while the Icelandic accused are simply let off the hook,\u201d he told The Namibian.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to urgently send the formal extradition request as a moral imperative. No one can understand why this has been delayed for so many months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hopwood added: \u201cIf the Icelandic government declines Namibia’s extradition request on the basis of Iceland’s domestic law, there is then a moral obligation for Icelandic authorities to proceed with prosecutions there.\u201d Samherji has denied any wrongdoing. The company enlisted the services of British lawyer Edward Garnier to fight a lawsuit in Namibia.<\/p>\n

Garnier argued in his affidavit filed in the Windhoek High Court last year that \u201cone cannot apply to extradite a company, nor can one apply to extradite an individual, a director for example, for the purposes of an investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. THE state has failed to submit extradition requests which would force suspects in Iceland to face criminal charges in Namibia relating to the Fishrot case. The justice ministry, which has been accused by the Anti-Corruption Commision (ACC) of failing to do its job, has refused to provide clarity, claiming that the case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":9165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-9166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nJustice ministry delays Fishrot extraditions - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE state has failed to submit extradition requests which would force suspects in Iceland to face criminal charges in ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justice ministry delays Fishrot extraditions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE state has failed to submit extradition requests which would force suspects in Iceland to face criminal charges in ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-11T14:08:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-11T14:56:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61dd9a6f876c8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"481\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Justice ministry delays Fishrot extraditions\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T14:08:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-11T14:56:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\"},\"wordCount\":788,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61dd9a6f876c8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/justice-ministry-delays-fishrot-extraditions\",\"name\":\"Justice ministry delays Fishrot extraditions - 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