April 23, 1997
The Reykjavik district court decided today, in favor of the Hanes, to deny the request of the prosecutor for a travel ban. It is possible that the request was only a formallity as the actual conditions surrounding the case would have remained the same.
A court date of May 13th was set to hear the case of validity of the extradition request.
May 13, 1997
In this hearing, documents were presented by both sides and a date of May 15 was set to reconvene after both sides read the material.
May 15, 1997
In this hearing, the oral presentations were given by both sides. The time of the proceedings was set for one hour total for both sides presentation and the prosecution rebuttal. The judge then adjourned and will deliver her decision in what will probably be a couple of weeks. If you are interested in a detailed account of the hearing, e-mail a request to: [email protected].
May 22, 1997
An article about us appeared in the Phoenix New Times.
June 3, 1997
Today the District Court in Reykjavik ruled that the conditions for extradition ARE present. We will appeal the decision. The ruling did not address any of our arguements. Our attourney said that there be no harm now in exposing the conditions in the Maricopa County Jail to the media.
Here are some links to articles on Sheriff Joe Arpaio:
Here is an article about guards beating an inmate to death.
Here is one about guards breaking the neck of a man in a wheelchair.
This feature is about the results of the Justice Department Report and contains links to other articles.
June 10, 1997
The defense briefs are presented to the Supreme Court and our attourney leaves the country for one week. He has submitted a request to respond to the prosecutions case before a decision is made. �orstein �orsteinsson article appears in the Dagur-Timinn.
June 11, 1997
The prosecution briefs are presented to the Supreme Court.
June 12, 1997
Two articles appear in the DV. One from Sigurjon �orburgson and the other from �sthor Magnusson. They are both large center page spreads and both use the same large photo just two pages apart. Asthor informed us that this is one of the most powerful types of advertising you can do.
June 13, 1997
The Morgunbla�i� carries an article of an interview with the attourney Ragnar A�alsteinsson (standing in for Ragnar �rnason who is out of the country temporarily). By now the radio and TV have quieted down.
June 20, 1997
The main TV station (stod 1) carried a story from the independent study being done by Ragnar T�masson (an attourney who has taken an interest in the case). He strongly supported the idea that we should be allowed to stay and the extradition should be refused. We have not seen the show as we were out of town doing a service project for the Bergm�l Group (a society for cancer patients and the blind).
June 21, 1997
The Morgunbla�i� carries an article of an interview with the attourney Ragnar T�masson. The article ends with the conclusion saying the Hanes couple should be allowed to stay.
June 23, 1997
Today the Icelandic Supreme Court ruled that the district court ruling was invalid. The Supreme Court stated that the district court had not addressed the arguments in the case. It will now go back to the district court and start over.
All NEW! The Phoenix Arizona New Times Sheriff Joe Website
July 1, 1997
Today the Icelandic District Court heard the repeat of oral arguments. The prosecution had presented almost identical to the last one. Our side had 9 new documents, quotes from Joe's book, and the 30 minute german TV video with a transcript translated into Icelandic. The proceedings went very well. Our outlook now could be said to be guardedly optimistic. We now await the District Court's ruling.
July 7, 1997
Iceland stands up to the U.S.
The District Court handed down their ruling today. The decision was that the conditions in the jail were bad enough to make extradition illegal by Icelandic law. The prosecutor was then asked if he would appeal the decision. He responded that he would decide and answer at the end of the 3 day time limit the law gives for such decisions. If he chooses to appeal the case goes on to the Supreme Court. If he does not, extradition to Maricopa County can not take place.
July 10, 1997
Not to anyone's suprise, an appeal was filed this morning. The u.s. embassy would not have it any other way, though officially they have no power to influence the case. We still do not know on what grounds they have appealed, but as with american law, there is always something. Tony Ortega cronicled the event in this article in the Phoenix New Times.
July 23, 1997
The Supreme Court of Iceland has decided to wait until after the summer recess to rule. This delays the ruling until September.
Five judges have been assigned to the panel to decide this time due to the seriousness of the matter. A decision is expected sometime after the 15th of September.
September 4, 1997
The prosecutor submits a letter from the U.S. Embassy to the Minister of Foreign Affairs stating this little piece of coersion: "Moreover, a denial of extradition under these circumstances would set a negative precedent in U. S. - Icelandic law enforcement cooperation" (and these are professional diplomats). Also included was an 18 page rebuttal to the Department of Justice report from the Maricopa County Sheriff's department (the best the prosecution could do but it will hardly be seen as an unbiased report).
September 17, 1997
A new report from Amnesty International on Jail conditions was filed in the Supreme Court today. The findings not only sustained the Justice Department Report but the wording of the findings almost exactly matched the section of Icelandic law dealing with the prevention of extradition.
September 29, 1997
As another week has closed without a decision, Ragnar T�mas called and expressed his concern about the delay but feels hopeful for a decision by sometime next week.
October 10, 1997
The deadline for a decision according to Icelandic law has come and gone with the passing of today. The Supreme Court has a maximum of three weeks to decide a case after the last piece of evidence is submitted. Perhaps some abstract reading of the law will allow the ruling to come on Monday. Undoubtably it will be no later than this.
October 13, 1997
NOT! Our attourney Ragnar has contacted the court and was informed that the ruling will not be today either. He is confering with his colleagues as to what to do with this unheard of situation. This has never happened in Iceland before. The contact at the Supreme Court said the ruling would probably be later this week.
October 17, 1997
Ruling at last! Our attourney Ragnar contacted us mid afternoon today to tell us that today the Supreme Court of Iceland had ruled issuing a majority opinion with 2 descenting opinions. Was it a split decision 3-2?? NO! The vote was 5-0 not to extradite. The two other opinions agreed not to extrdite but for different reasons. One judge blasted the conditions in Maricopa county jails and said while they existed no extradition should be considered. The other descension was on minor points of Icelandic law (we are awaiting an in depth translation into English to see just how minor). The majority decision passed no judgement on Joe's jail. They said that the preemptive concern was how the Icelandic Minister of Justice has mishandled the case. Yes, once again it is �orstein P�lsson that has transgressed the law. Once again we fall back into his hands to have our fate decided by him. He will now head up the negotiations for our "safe" return.
October 21, 1997
In a somewhat lengthy article the Minister of Justice office stated in the Morgunbla�i� today that they "consider the matter closed". When pushed to answer questions about the negotiations for a surrender they repeated that they consider the matter closed. A more complete translation of this article is expected tomorrow or the next day. If this is really the conclusion of the matter then is it finally time to consider the question below?
December 3, 1997
Today the immigration department announces that residence permits good until May 1, 1998 are being issued. Coordinated with that there are two articles published in the Morgunbla�i� this morning. A shorter one on the back page, and the first of a series on the American justice system on page 3.
December 14, 1997
A breif article in the Morgunbla�i� today announced that the someone from the U.S. Justice Department is coming to Iceland to talk about the Hanes case (will his orders include listening as well?). Todays paper also included part two of the series on the American justice system.
A question for �orstein P�lsson:
A question for �orstein P�lsson is "has Iceland illegally seized the Hanes passports?" The Hanes gave the Icelandic authorities our passports trusting that they would do as they said and "return them at the conclusion of the matter". The authorities then turned the passports over to the U.S. embassy without consulting or even notifying the Hanes. The embassy is now holding the passports illegally and flatly refusing the hearing required by U.S. law. First �orstein P�lsson gave Zenith to the U.S. embassy in violation of the law, second the passports. Will the Hanes couple be picked up some night by the police and be turned over to the Embassy as well? It appears that all the embassy would have to do is ask.
A quote from Icelandic Nobel Prize winning author Halldor Laxness: The truth will NOT set you free. It will make you a pilgrim, a foreigner, and a prisoner.