Helsinki, 4 October 2023
Minister of Justice Leena Meri and Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen have discussed the case of a man sentenced to death in Iraq who has since resided in Finland. The case has been covered recently by the media.
The ministers have reviewed the powers of different authorities and their possibilities to take action. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will conduct discussions on the matter with the Iraqi and Norwegian authorities. The authorities cannot comment on any details of the matter.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice have launched and will launch legislative projects aimed at preventing similar situations in the future and at streamlining the processing of such cases.
The Ministry of the Interior is carrying out reforms to improve the verification of identity in residence permit and asylum matters. Other means to prevent abuse of the procedure will also be examined. These include detention, imposition of an entry ban and withdrawal of a residence permit.
The Ministry of Justice is implementing a reform of extradition legislation. The Ministry will also start updating the national legislation on the transfer of enforcement of sentences as soon as possible.
Source – Finnish Government