On March 6, 2019, two women will tried at the Reykjavík district court, for violating Iceland’s aviation code, by protesting against a deportation on July 26, 2016. On that day, Ragnheiður Freyja Kristínardóttir and Jórunn Edda Helgadóttir boarded a passenger plane at Keflavík Airport. Before the plane entered the runway, the two stood up, refused to sit down, and urged other passengers to do the same, in order to hinder the deportation of Eze Okafor, a Nigerian citizen on board, accompanied by two police officers.
Okafor came to Iceland in 2012, fleeing persecution from Boko Haram. Icelandic immigration authorities did not dispute the fact of this threat, nor the fact that during the years he waited for a decision he had acquired a life in Iceland, professionally and socially. Okafor’s story was summarized by Al Jazeera, among other media:
In any case, unarmed and non-violently, the two activists attempted to hinder Okafor’s deportation. This method of protesting against deportations is well known the world over, and has at times proven effective, since pilots cannot legally take off until all passengers on a plane are seated. In this case, the two protesters were swiftly arrested, then interrogated. The flight was delayed for around 30 minutes. The deportation proceeded.
That was in July, 2016. The act seemed to have had no further legal consequences until over two years later, October 19, 2018, when Reykjavík’s district prosecutor pressed charges against the protesters. Incidentally, they were charged on the same day as Sweden’s Elin Ersson was charged for her later, analogous action at Gothenburg airport.
The highest sentence for the women’s supposed violation is, according to Iceland’s penal code, six years in prison.
The main hearing in their case will take place, as mentioned above, on March 6th, 2019, at Reykjavík district court. This website has been set up in solidarity with Jórunn and Ragnheiður, and to remind authorities that Solidarity is not a Crime.