Directorate of Immigration took over Bandero police case

Óskar Magnússon, a farmer, Supreme Court attorney and author, has strongly criticised the authorities’ handling of the Bandero crew, saying the Directorate of Immigration “mysteriously” became the main authority in a case that was primarily a criminal matter under police control, mbl.is reported.

Sigríður Á. Andersen, a Reform Party MP and former justice minister, said the procedure also raised questions. She said it was particularly notable that, if offences had been established, the men were not prosecuted but instead deported.

The comments were made on the programme Spursmál, where the two discussed the Icelandic authorities’ actions after Bandero was brought into port.

Óskar said the first part of the operation had been handled well. When Bandero “took action out at sea” and endangered the lives of Icelandic sailors, he said, the Icelandic Coast Guard and the police special forces responded appropriately.

“I think that operation was carried out extremely well by the Coast Guard and the special forces,” Óskar said.

He said the situation changed after the ship reached port. At that point, he argued, the case was a police matter involving alleged violations of criminal and other laws.

“Then something strange happens: the Directorate of Immigration becomes involved in the case, or involves itself in the case, and suddenly, in some mysterious way, control of the case ends up with the Directorate of Immigration, rather than with the police who had been handling it,” Óskar said.

He said the Directorate of Immigration then arranged deportation and entry bans over the holiday weekend. The case, he added, had not been handled by a court.

Óskar compared the case with earlier territorial waters disputes, in which people were brought to port, detained, charged and then tried in court. He also criticised what he called an “inter-institutional game”, saying the Reykjavík police, which had been investigating the case, were eventually sidelined and the national police commissioner’s deportation unit took over.

Andersen said this aspect of the case was noteworthy, asking why the men had not been charged if an offence had been committed.

She noted, however, that an entry ban was not a minor sanction because it could apply throughout the Schengen area. She also said that, under the separation of powers, punishments should be determined by the courts.