From Iceland — Asylum Seeker Deported Without Warning

Asylum Seeker Deported Without Warning

Published December 18, 2013

Nigerian asylum seeker Tony Omos was put on a plane for Switzerland early this morning, despite his lawyer being told that this would not happen until the end of the week.
DV reports that Tony was taken from the Hegningarhús jail in downtown Reykjavík at five o’ clock this morning, and taken to the airport for a plane to Switzerland. From there, he will likely be deported to Nigeria.
Stefán Karl Kristjánsson, Tony’s lawyer, told reporters that the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police had told him yesterday that Tony would not be deported until the end of the week. Upon calling the police to check on his client today, he was informed that Tony was already gone.
As reported, Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjándóttir has been under fire in parliament lately over the leak of an “unofficial ministry document” to the press regarding Tony. The document falsely claimed that he was connected to a human trafficking case earlier this summer, and that he is not actually the father of his girlfriend Evelyn Glory Joseph’s expected child. The document contended furthermore that Evelyn was pressured by Tony to say he is the child’s father.
None of these accusations proved to be true. Evelyn insisted Tony was the father of her child, stating the two were willing to undergo a paternity test. Stefán also told reporters, “My client was investigated, denied the charges against him, and within the documents it shows that the investigation was dropped.”
Hanna also made implications in parliament that the document could have come from other agencies – despite all evidence pointing to the ministry.
Tony recently told reporters that the leak has damaged his reputation, as news of the leak reached his home country.
“I’ve received a message from people in Nigeria that I have been suspected of taking part in human trafficking,” Tony recently told reporters. “This has in reality ruined my reputation. I don’t understand how the ministry could do that to me. I don’t understand Iceland.”

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