A man who exploded a container of gas fumes by the office of the Prime Minister will not be charged with a crime, as it could not be proven he intended to damage person or property.
Last January, a bomb was detonated behind government offices on Hverfisgata 4 – the office of the Prime Minister. No one was injured or killed, and no damage was done to property. Nonetheless, police regarded the matter as a serious crime and appealed to the public with security cam stills to help search for their prime suspect.
A man was arrested in connection with the crime shortly thereafter, and he confessed. The house of the accused, who is in his seventies, was searched by police, where materials for making a bomb were found.
Vísir now reports that charges have been dropped against the man, as it could not be proven that he intended to hurt anyone or damage property. As assistant state prosecutor Helgi Magnús Gunnarsson explained, the so-called “bomb” exploded right next to the man, but he was not injured and no visible signs of an explosion were present in the surrounding area.
The man in question, Snævar Valentínus, said he originally intended to explode the device outside the home of the prime minister, but chose her office instead. The purpose of the exercise, he said, was to deliver a message to the government.
When Magnús was asked by reporters if inciting fear in the general public was not a crime, he responded that he did not believe this particular case warranted the charge.
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