Iceland ducks Namibia’s Fishrot delegation

The three Icelandic nationals implicated in the Fishrot corruption scandal might never step foot in Namibian courts to answer for their alleged financial crimes, with Namibia now deploying its diplomatic and political machinery to get its way.

The Namibian government is said to be grossly frustrated that its Icelandic counterparts are not willing to compromise on the matter, which some worry might have repercussions for the State’s case against those accused of masterminding the Fishrot syndicate while they allegedly pocketed over N$150 million.

Not even the 10 000-kilometre trip from Windhoek to Reykjavik, undertaken by a powerful Namibian delegation, led by deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, was enough to convince Iceland’s prosecution authorities to sanction the extradition of Samherji bosses.

Adalsteinn Helgason, Egill Helgi rnason, and Ingvar Jlusson are the three accused Icelanders linked to the Fishrot scandal.

Their co-accused are former Cabinet ministers Bernhardt Esau and Sacky Shanghala, Esau’s son-in-law Tamson ‘Fitty’ Haitukulipi, his cousin and former Investec Asset Management Namibia managing director James Hatuikulipi, former Investec Namibia executive Ricardo Gustavo and Pius Mwatelulo, who are believed to have received corrupt payments of over N$100 million from Icelandic-owned companies in exchange for fishing quotas.

Gustavo secured bail for N$800 000 last year while the rest of the Namibian accused remain incarcerated.

Snubbed

At this point, according to government sources, Icelandic laws do not make provision for extraditions to take place.

Namibian Sun has been reliably informed that Iceland’s justice minister, Jón Gunnarsson, snubbed a meeting with the Namibian delegation and instead sent his political assistant to meet the group to discuss the extradition process.

According to insiders based in the Nordic country, this could be construed as an insult because political assistants are merely glorified secretaries with no administrative power, and they should not be involved in such serious discussions.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was accompanied by Prosecutor-General (PG) Martha Imalwa and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) deputy director Erna van der Merwe, in addition to a group of subordinates.

It is also understood that Namibia has not yet officially submitted its extradition request.

No political will

Transparency International’s Iceland offices have accused the Icelandic government of lacking the political will to tackle corruption, adding that "ministers have a nonchalant approach when it comes to tackling corruption."

Transparency International’s executive director, Thor Fanndal, told Namibian Sun last week that "the government coalition seems hellbent on signalling that not only does Iceland not seem to have the capacity for justice in Fishrot, but our politicians, especially those supporting the government coalition, are simply not interested in ensuring capacity for justice."

He added: "Iceland’s justice minister saw no value in attending a meeting with the Namibian delegation."

Imalwa told Namibian Sun that she was part of the delegation in the capacity of a "prosecutor" and that all questions should be directed to the head of the delegation, Nandi-Ndaitwah.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, who had arrived in Iceland before other members of the delegation, to attend other international meetings, said she merely did her job to secure the meeting for the PG and Van der Merwe, and could not comment on what transpired during the discussion. “As minister, I did my part, I linked them with the authorities there,” she said.

Records

However, according to a statement issued in June by the Icelandic government, Nandi-Ndaitwah met with Icelandic Minister of Foreign Affairs Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir to discuss the Samherji case, among other things.

According to the Icelandic media, both countries recently met at the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, for a joint meeting regarding the Samherji case.

When contacted for comment, ACC director Paulus Noa declined to comment on how this impasse would affect the case, saying he was not part of the delegation.

"My deputy attended; we were not leading. In the first place, this is a matter for the PG, she was even there before my deputy Erna van der Merwe arrived. The representative from ACC went to meet some officials in Iceland to finalise talks that were started telephonically. The aspect of extradition is dealt with by the justice ministry," said Noa.

Van der Merwe said extradition cannot hinder an investigation and there is no need for Namibians to worry about whether the Icelandic suspects will testify in Namibian courts.

"Extradition will not affect our case because we have our witnesses to testify. If their last answer or stance on the matter remains like that [no extradition], then so what? Let them deal with those people and we will have those whose affidavits we have, but we have no reason to believe that they will not come," she said.

Interest of justice

This comes at a time when the Institute of Public Policy and Research (IPPR) and Transparency International Iceland urged justice minister Yvonne Dausab to make her decision known regarding extradition as soon as possible, in the interest of justice and due process of law.

"We note that, as of 7 June 2022, Namibia has not yet formally delivered its request for the extradition of three Icelandic suspects wanted in Namibia in relation to Fishrot. 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," the joint statement read.

Dausab responded by saying: "I will forward this to the senior officials at the directorate legal services and once they provide feedback will let you know or they will get back to you."

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