Hrannar Björn Arnarson, assistant to Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, has denied that he called the police on a protester in front of the Prime Minister’s office.
Morgunblaðið ran an anonymous column this morning accusing Hrannar of having been the one to call the police on Helga Björk Magnúsdóttir, a protester who was arrested in front of the Prime Minister’s office, with no other reason given by police than that she was “disturbing people at work”. The incident was recorded on video, uploaded to YouTube, and sparked some loud criticism of the police in particular.
Hrannar responded to the charges on Facebook, saying, “I never asked for the arrest of Helga or called anyone. The only thing I did (which I should not have done in light of what has transpired) was to stand beside a policeman who works in the office and watched Helga tossing pieces of bread onto the lawn and the Prime Minister’s car, and asked whether it wouldn’t be possible to prevent such sloppiness.”
He added that he and others in the office have no interest in Helga’s protest methods, whether she’s playing a recorder, banging on a drum or holding up signs. She has, he says, been their “neighbor” for many months.