From Iceland — Icelandic MPs Protest Against Klausturgate MP Live In Parliament

Icelandic MPs Protest Against Klausturgate MP Live In Parliament

Published February 6, 2019

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Screenshot/RÚV

Two MPs for the Pirate Party flanked Centre Party MP Bergþór Ólason as he delivered a speech in Parliament yesterday, with the two MPs in question donning hats that directly protested his continued presence, despite the shocking things he said in the now infamous Klausturgate recordings.

The two Pirate Party MPs, Björn Leví Gunnarsson and Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, can be seen in the above screenshot from national broadcasting’s livestream of parliamentary proceedings wearing hats which read “FO”. This stands for “fokk ofbeldi”; literally “fuck violence”, referencing the hateful things Bergþór said in the Klausturgate recordings.

Amongst Bergþór’s remarks, recorded at Klaustur bar by Bára Halldórsdóttir and later sent to the press, was him calling People’s Party chair Inga Sæland “a raving mad cunt” who is “fucking crazy”. He also spoke disparagingly about the attractiveness—or lack thereof, by his estimation—of his other female colleagues.

Despite repeated calls for his resignation, he has not only persisted to stay on in Parliament; he and other MPs from his party have launched legal action against Bára.

The Fokk Ofbeldi hats, as RÚV reports, were designed by UN Women. In a statement to the press, UN Women says, “By buying a Fokk Ofbeldi hat, you are taking part in shining a light on the darkness covering women and girls who have had to endure violence.”

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