December 3, 1997

Residence permit granted till spring

-American authorities put on pressure to have the Haneses extradited

The Immigration Department yesterday granted residence permits to Connie Jean and Donald Hanes until May 1, 1998. The Supreme Court, with its decision of October 17, denied that a legal basis existed for the extradition of the couple to the US. There they are accused of taking Connie Jean Hanes' granddaughter from the state of Arizona to Iceland. American authorities pressured the Icelandic government to arrange the extradition of the Haneses while the extradition request was being examined by the Supreme Court.

In the letter from the Immigration Department to the couple's lawyer it states: "In the letter accompanying the couple's application, it says that they seek to obtain residence permits on humanitarian grounds. We do not accept that such a view applies in their case. Although the couple live here in Iceland without passports, and thus do not fulfill the requirements to obtain a residence permit here, it appears right, in respect of the Supreme Court decision in case number 302/1997, to grant them a residence permit, so that they have sufficient time to work towards obtaining a judgement in their case in the US and to obtain new passports."

According to Ragnar T�mas �rnason, the couple's lawyer, attempts are now being made to have the Arizona district attorney agree to the couple's conditions for coming before the court in the US. Those conditions are that the couple be allowed to travel freely to Arizona, that they are allowed to be free on a reasonable bail while the case is before the court, and that they do not have to take out any conceivable sentence in the Maricopa County prison system, where prisoners' rights are ignored.

US government intervention

American authorities have repeatedly requested that the Hanes couple be extradited to the US. The couple first made an agreement with Icelandic authorities to leave the country before March 1, and that deadline was extended a month at the request of Prime Minister Dav�� Oddsson.The day after the extension was granted representatives from the American embassy came to the prime minister's office and stated that a demand would be made for the couple's extradition.

David Oddsson verified this for Morgunbladid yesterday, and said that he found this to be a very strange stance, as the couple had intended to leave voluntarily. The extradition demand, however, sparked the legal proceedings in the Icelandic courts, which ended with the Supreme Court rejecting the demand.

While the case was before the court this summer, the American State Department sent Icelandic authorities a letter which expressed serious concern over the Reykjav�k District Court's decision to reject the couple's extradition. The Icelandic government was urged to fulfill its contractual obligations and arrange the extradition of Connie Jean and Donald Hanes as quickly as possible.

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