A petition with over 700 signatures in support of the Reykjavík Nine was delivered to President of Parliament Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir outside parliament this morning, reports Frettablaðið. The nine individuals are currently standing trial for allegedly attacking Parliament during the protests in winter 2008-2009.
The petition was delivered by Ragnheiður Ásta Pétursdóttir, a former program announcer on the National Broadcasting Service and mother of one of the nine accused. She was accompanied by a group of 30 signatories who took part in the protests or are related to the accused. The petition calls for the charges against the nine to be dropped or that the signatories be charged as well for their actions.
“We believe, especially after reviewing the evidence, that their actions were non-violent,” Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir, an ethnologist and signatory to the petition, explains, “Certainly it was disruptive to Parliament, but we feel that they are no guiltier than the thousands who took part in the protests with more noise and greater consequences.” She hopes that the prosecution will review the matter under a larger context.
Upon receiving the petition, Ásta Ragnheiður stated that it is a judicial matter rather than a parliamentary one and had little to say on the matter, and then walked away.
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