Police and the Directorate of Immigration are currently investigating whether there are any legal grounds to refuse a group of representatives from the adult film industry to hold a conference, SnowGathering, in Iceland next month.
“We are estimating whether we can expect some kind of illegal behavior or operations, especially regarding a clause in the punishment law about distribution and production of pornography which is prohibited in this country,” Reykjavík Chief of Police Stefán Eiríksson told Morgunbladid.
According to the clause, those who “produce, import for circulation, sell, hand out or distribute in any way pornographic magazines or films and similar material, display it in public, organize a public presentation or a game that is immoral in the same way” can be punished with an imprisonment of up to six months.
The Directorate of Immigration has the right to refuse a citizen outside the European Economic Area (EEA) access to the country if he or she has been imprisoned abroad during the last five years for a crime that would result in at least three months of imprisonment in Iceland.
According to Ragnheidur Bödvarsdóttir, the substitute for the director of the Directorate of Immigration, the Directorate also has the right to refuse a non-EEA citizen the right to come to Iceland if it is considered necessary because of state security or if the person’s behavior is considered a threat to basic national viewpoints.
In January 2002, 19 members of motorcycle club Hells Angels were not allowed to come to the country based on the argument that criminals and groups of criminals should be prevented from creating a platform for organized crime in Iceland.
The government also refused a group of Falun Gong activists, which is considered illegal by the Chinese government, to come to Iceland in June 2002 in relation to the visit of former President of China Jiang Zemin, a move which was criticized by many, as Morgunbladid reports.
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