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STOCKHOLM – Swedish prosecutors have indicted a woman who, in July, stalled to prevent the deportation of a rejected asylum seeker to Afghanistan by refusing to sit in the country. 39; air.
The woman, Elin Ersson, was a volunteer from an organization that fights against the forced return of Afghan asylum seekers whose applications were rejected. Mrs. Ersson, 21, was filmed on July 23 before the cabin crew of a Turkish Airlines flight at the Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.
The indictment, released Friday in a Göteborg district court, said Ersson had violated Swedish aviation law by standing by the time the plane was to take off. Crimes against the law result in fines or imprisonment of up to six months on conviction.
"She did it with the intention of preventing the departure of the plane," said Friday a prosecutor, James von Reis, to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
Eventually, the captain ordered Mrs. Ersson and a 50-year-old Afghan who she was trying to protect from the plane, and this one was able to take off. The man was finally deported.
Ersson's lawyer, Thomas Fridh, testified that his actions on the plane did not violate any law. "Throughout the action, she was ready to follow the orders of the captain aboard and she left the plane as soon as the pilot decided," Mr Fridh said in a statement. email Saturday.
He stated that Swedish aviation law applies only to actions in the air, not on the ground.
In a statement sent Saturday by e-mail, Ersson said she would continue to fight against the forced repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan.
"In practice, sending someone is sending someone to death," she wrote. "As a person opposed to the death penalty, it is only fair to defend the interests of those at risk of being deported to a country at war."
The Gothenburg police said that a preliminary investigation had been opened following complaints from people while they were watching the video.
Mr von Reis, the prosecutor, said his actions had "caused a lot of confusion, irritation and anxiety in the plane. Some passengers were very unhappy with this situation, "said the Swedish newspaper JP.
But his actions also drew praise.
Anne Ramberg, executive director of the Swedish Bar Association, wrote on her blog in July that Ms Ersson "has shown courage and fought for something that she and her many others see it as an urgent problem in Sweden ".
The man was an Afghan asylum seeker sitting behind the Turkish Airlines flight and accompanied by officials to take him back to Kabul, Afghanistan.
In a challenge act of 15 minutes, Live via her mobile phone, Mrs. Ersson refused to sit down, which delayed the departure, even though impatient passengers and crew members shouted at her afterwards.
She calmly replied, "I'm doing what I can to save a person's life."
The man was finally removed from the plane.
The Nordic countries have had reduced tolerance of migrants, making it difficult for Afghans to obtain asylum. This year, Sweden has accepted a historically low number of asylum applications from Afghan adults and minors, according to immigration authorities.
