Iceland has deported 40 foreign offenders under new parole rules

Iceland has deported 40 foreign offenders under legal changes that let authorities release prisoners facing deportation after they have served one-third of their sentence, mbl.is reported. They are removed from the country after completing their prison term.

Parliament approved the changes in June. Previously, prisoners due to be deported had to serve half their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Among those deported under the changes are Angjelin Sterkaj, sentenced to 16 years in prison for killing Armando Beqirai at his home in Rauðagerði, Reykjavík, in 2021, and Mohamad Th. Jóhannesson, formerly known as Mohamad Kourani.

Deportation comes with a ban on returning to Iceland and, depending on the case, to all 27 Schengen countries. Justice Minister Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir said the ban was a significant deterrent. She said the changes were intended both to make room for more people to begin serving sentences and to remove offenders with few ties to Iceland.

The minister also said prisoners who are to be deported should not serve part of their sentence in halfway houses or under electronic monitoring, measures intended to prepare people for return to society. She said work is under way on a security prison at Stóra-Hraun and on increasing prison capacity at Sogn.