A complaints committee has come to the conclusion that capital area police have not provided a good reason for refusing to release the contents of a report they made on the 2008-2009 parliamentary protests.
As reported, blogger Eva Hauksdóttir, who was also active during the protests, made a request to see the contents of the report, but was denied on the grounds that, as Commissioner of the Reykjavík Area Police Stefán Eiríksson said, regulations on the treatment of personal information in police possession only give other authorities access to personal information within their casework with the express permission of the Data Protection Authority. Without such permission, the police simply cannot release the report.
DV now reports that a complaints committee has ruled that this defence does not hold up – the police must provide better reasoning than this for not making the report public. Eva, while disappointed that the police were not ordered to release the report at once, told reporters that she was pleased that it was confirmed that “the police cannot arbitrarily block public access to information”.
Former police superintendent Geir Jón Þórisson authored the report on the Pots and Pans Revolution, which has remained an internal police document for years – neither the general public nor members of parliament have seen the report, despite numerous requests that the report’s findings be made public.
Stefán has not as yet responded to the committee’s findings.
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