Reasons Annika deserves to be transferred:
-
Annika was sentenced to 25 years to
life. She was not the perpetrator in either
murder, however Annika was sentenced under California's felony murder
rule,
which provides that she is as responsible as the murderer himself. As
of June 2007, Annika has served 26 years in a California
prison. Under
California law, Annika was eligible for parole after 17 years, yet the
California Board of Prison Terms has yet to find her "suitable for
parole", or
authorize her for transfer to her native country of Sweden. She comes
up for another hearing in 2008. Probably in October or in November.
- Under US code, the United States is
party to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons
(Search for ETS No. 112), with the Council of Europe, of which Sweden
is a member, that specifically allows for the transfer of prisoners to
their native countries to serve the remainder of their sentences.
However, California and a few other states have adamantly refused to
transfer any foreign prisoners. This convention is part of the 1983
Strasbourg treaty, and the United States has signed and ratified this
convention. It costs approximately $25,000 per year, (excluding any
medical costs), to house a
prisoner. At a time when California's deficit has reached astronomical
proportions, ($23.6B), it's time to re-evaluate our priorities and
realize that
it does not serve the interests of justice or California to keep Annika
further incarcerated in the United
States. This woman has never asked for clemency or leniency, but only
to be
transferred to her native country.
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