CCPR/C/130/D/2818/2016
Optional Protocol to the Covenant entered into force for the State party on 22 November
1979. The author is not represented by counsel.
Factual background
2.1
In 2007, the author moved to Iceland, where his mother lived, to pursue his studies.
While preparing for a university entrance exam, the author worked for different companies
and paid annual income tax to the Government of Iceland. In 2009, he received an invitation
to study at Bifröst University and planned to accept it after having improved his language
skills.
2.2
The author maintains that, in Iceland, he made friends with other Lithuanians who
seemed to be decent people. The author states that he was not aware of any criminal acts that
they may have committed and did not himself commit any illegal acts. The author asserts
that, on 9 October 2009, one of his Lithuanian friends introduced the friend’s alleged
girlfriend, Y, to the author. Y was 19 years old and she too was a national of Lithuania. The
author states that he did not know anything about the circumstances of Y’s arrival in Iceland.
After Y was evicted from her apartment, one of the author’s friends asked the author to help
Y. The author maintains that he rented a room for Y for one night in a hotel, bought her some
food, gave her some money and advised her to go to the police.
2.3
On 18 October 2009, the author saw a report in the media indicating that he was
wanted by the police. He immediately turned himself in and was arrested on the same day
for subjecting Y to human trafficking. On the same day, the author was brought before the
Reykjanes District Court, which ordered the author to be detained in solitary confinement
until 21 October 2009, at which point the solitary confinement order was extended until 28
October 2009 and then again until 4 November 2009. The police had argued that substantial
evidence pointed to the author’s involvement in human trafficking and that the author might
try to remove evidence or influence accomplices or witnesses if he were released. On 3
November 2009, the Supreme Court rejected the author’s appeal of that decision. On 4
November 2009, the Reykjanes District Court again extended the solitary confinement order
until 11 November 2009. On 6 November 2009, the Supreme Court rejected the author’s
appeal of that decision. On 11 November 2009, the Reykjanes District Court once again
extended the solitary confinement order to 2 December 2009. On 17 November 2009, the
Supreme Court granted in part the author’s appeal of that decision, finding that there was no
legal basis for authorizing the author’s continued detention in solitary confinement. Thus, on
17 November 2009, the author was detained with the general prison population. Thereafter,
the author filed additional appeals against the orders of extended detention issued by the
Reykjanes District Court. The Supreme Court rejected those appeals on 7 and 31 December
2009 and on 29 January, 26 February, 10 March and 9 April 2010.
2.4
The author states that, during the first two weeks of his solitary confinement in the
Keflavik police station, he was held in inhumane conditions, as his cell did not have a toilet
or water. After his transfer to the Litla Hraun prison (where he was placed in solitary
confinement for a while), he was only allowed to speak with his defence counsel and law
enforcement officers. During his solitary confinement, the author was also deprived of the
right to receive the assistance of a psychologist. During the first three months of his detention,
the author was not allowed to communicate or contact his relatives, including his mother.
2.5
During police interrogations conducted on 18 and 27 October and 3 November 2009,
the author asked the interrogating officers to provide the official accusatory material against
him, but his requests were ignored. The official human trafficking charges against him were
announced on 29 December 2009, but the charging documents were not translated into the
author’s native language, Lithuanian, or into English, which he understands well.
2.6
On 8 March 2010, the Reykjanes District Court convicted the author and four other
nationals of Lithuania of human trafficking. All five defendants were sentenced to five years
of imprisonment. Another defendant, who was a national of Iceland and had arranged for Y’s
accommodation, was acquitted in the same decision. The author asserts that the media and
society at large had essentially convicted him before the start of the trial, which involved the
first case of human trafficking in the small country of Iceland. The case thus attracted
significant media attention, which strongly influenced public opinion. The author maintains
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