Prison chief says serious crimes do not bar parole

Ragna Bjarnadóttir, director of Iceland’s Prison and Probation Administration, says the nature of an offence is not among the criteria used when deciding whether to grant parole, mbl.is reports.

Her comments follow remarks by Grímur Grímsson, a Reform Party MP and sponsor of a bill that would allow foreign prisoners to receive parole after serving one-third of their sentences in exchange for a ban on returning to Iceland. Grímur said the law gives the administration permission to grant parole but does not require it to do so.

Ragna said the law does not state that the nature of the offence should be considered in parole decisions.

“There is decades of experience with this practice. Our legal system and the implementation of laws on the enforcement of sentences mean that everyone has the opportunity to apply for parole, entirely regardless of the offence,” she said.

According to Ragna, the administration primarily considers a prisoner’s conduct during incarceration, their sentence history, including whether they have previously breached parole conditions, and a risk assessment.

“No offences are excluded, and this was not changed in any way when the new law was adopted. Nothing was therefore added to the law allowing us to decide that a particular serious offence is excluded from parole,” she said.

Ragna said she did not know what happened to Sterkaj after he arrived in Albania. He is subject to a permanent ban on returning to the Schengen Area.