Interior Minister Assistant Wants Prison For Journalists

An assistant to the Minister of the Interior is seeking to press for prison time for two journalists who briefly but erroneously reported on her involvement in the Tony Omos memo leak case.

DV reports that Þórey Vilhjálmsdóttir, an assistant to Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, is taking DV journalists Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson to court for libel. The two journalists erroneously reported that she was “Employee B”, the suspect identified by police as the possible source of the leaked memo on Nigerian asylum seeker Tony Omos.

DV issued an immediate correction and apology on the same day the erroneous story broke, which was then distributed to every major media outlet in the country.

Þórey, however, stuck to her original plan to sue. Her legal team says they will seek the “maximum punishment” for libel, which is one year in prison. In addition, she is seeking 3 million ISK in damages.

A date for the trial has not yet been set.