From Iceland — Charges Pressed Twenty Months After The Fact

Charges Pressed Twenty Months After The Fact

Published February 11, 2011

Snorri Páll Jónsson, one of the Reykjavík Nine, and Sunneva Weisshappel, were in court this morning for charges pressed against them last month over an incident that occurred twenty months earlier. Katrín Oddsdóttir, who is representing them, says the case should be dismissed because proper criminal procedures have been violated, according to a press release from the supporters of the Reykjavík Nine.
According to the press release, on May 21, 2009, police arrested Snorri after he spit in the direction of a police car, and then arrested Sunneva, after she protested his arrest. They were debriefed and released a couple of hours later. However, no charges were pressed until January 20, 2011, which was also the final day of the Reykjavík Nine trial.
The supporters of the Reykjavík Nine argue that Article 18 in the Law about Criminal Procedures and Article 77 in the General Penal Code, among other articles, have been violated in this case.
Article 18 obliges the prosecution to accelerate the proceedings as much as possible and Article 77 stipulates that if a suspect has been accused of committing multiple crimes, their penalty should be imposed jointly. In that case, they argue that Snorri should have been tried for this crime at the same time as he was being tried for the his alleged attack on parliament.

Support The Reykjavík Grapevine!
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!

Show Me More!