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Man Gets 15 Days In Prison For Stealing From Bónus
A man has been sentenced to 15 days in prison for stealing groceries worth ISK 4.496 from a Bónus store in Akureyri, reports RÚV. The District Court of Northeast Iceland delivered the sentence nearly a year after the theft occurred. The case…
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Father Sentenced 16 Years For Murdering Daughter
The Reykjanes District Court sentenced Sigurður Fannar Þórsson to 16 years in prison for murdering his 10-year-old daughter in September 2024. According to the court records, Sigurður attacked his daughter by Vatnsskarðsnámur near Krýsuvík on the Reykjanes Peninsula. He repeatedly struck her…
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Foreign Nationals Comprise 42% Of Prison Population
In 2024, individuals with foreign citizenships comprised 42% of the Icelandic prison population, RÚV reports. The proportion has increased threefold compared to 2014 when 14% of inmates were foreign nationals. The information was disclosed in a reply from the Minister of Justice during…
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Culture Night Killer Sentenced To Prison
A teenager, aged seventeen, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for murdering Bryndís Klara Birgisdóttir on Culture Night in 2024. He is also convicted of stabbing two other teenagers. The boy confessed in his hearing, which was published on Reykjavík…
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Woman Sentenced To 18 Years For Murder
A woman in her 40s was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of her six-year-old son and the attempted murder of her older son. The ruling was confirmed on the morning of November 6, RÚV reports. In January 2024,…
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The Rocky Foundation of Law and Order
Travel doesn’t have to entail hitting the road, hopping on a plane or lacing up your hiking boots to trek into remote destinations. There’s something to be said for the staycation, or travelling in time by getting to know the places you…
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Dancing Behind Bars: Exploring The Relationship Between Entertainment And Imprisonment
Musician Ingibjörg Friðriksdóttir’s newest release, ‘Brotabrot’, explores the complex relationship between entertainment and imprisonment, calling into question the morality of the wildly popular true-crime genre. By blending interviews with former prisoners with dance-worthy electronic music, Ingibjörg—who goes by the stage name Inki—poses…
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Fewer People In Prison Than Majority Of Europe, But The Number Is Rising
Iceland is on the list of European countries where the number of prisoners has steadily increased the most proportionally. From January 2019 to January 2020, the number of prisoners in Iceland increased by 11.7%, the third largest increase after Malta and Cyprus.…
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Stalking May Soon Be Punishable By Up To Four Years In Prison
Those convicted of stalking may face up to four years in prison, if a bill from Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir becomes law, Fréttablaðið reports. The bill is being welcomed by women’s shelter workers and the police alike. As it stands…
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Prisons Director Wants Decriminalisation Of Drugs In Consumption Quantities
Páll Winkel, the director of Iceland’s prison system, does not believe the government is doing enough to confront the issue of those convicted of drug offenses, RÚV reports, pointing out that anywhere from 50% to 70% of Icelandic prisoners suffer from drug…
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Two Men Sentenced To Prison For Assaulting Club Doormen, Paralysing One
Two assailants were sentenced to five years and six months, respectively, for an assault on two doormen of the nightclub Shooters that left one paralysed from the neck down. The doormen were also awarded damages by the court. RÚV reports that the…
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Icelandic Prisoners Paid Below Minimum Wage For Contracted Work
The Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ) believes the Icelandic Prison Service (FMS) is breaking labour laws by contracting out prisoners to do work for less than minimum wage, RÚV reports. The project manager of the prisoner’s department at ASÍ recently sent a…
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Icelandic Fugitive Coming Home Tomorrow
Iceland’s best known prison escapee will be returning to our fair shores tomorrow. Sindri Þór Stefánsson, who has been in custody in Holland since last week, will return to Iceland tomorrow, Vísir reports. Police in Suðurnes, southwest Iceland, will have to take…
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Icelandic Fugitive Ready To Come Back Home
Icelandic prison escapee Sindri Þór Stefánsson is still being held in Holland, but is likely to return to Iceland within the next three weeks. Sindri testified in Dutch court today, saying that he had always been free to go and was neither…
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Icelandic Prison Escapee Caught, Will Be Returned To Iceland Soon
An Icelander who escaped custody and fled the country has been arrested in Holland, and will be brought back to Iceland soon. It has also come to light that the police had no legal authority to hold him in custody in the…
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Icelandic Prison Escapee Releases Statement To The Press: “Be Back Soon”
Sindri Þór Stefánsson, who escaped from a minimum security prison earlier this week and caught a plane to Sweden, wants to set the record straight. As reported, Sindri was in custody in Sogn Prison under suspicion of being involved in the theft…
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More Details On Icelandic Prison Escapee Coming In
More details are coming in about fugitive Sindri Þór Stefánsson‘s final hours in Iceland before catching a plane to Sweden. He very likely had help in his escape, and his trail is growing colder by the hour. RÚV reports that Sindri ordered…
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Asylum Seeker, Badly Beaten Last Month, Deported With No Warning
A young asylum seeker, who was badly beaten while in custody for trying to stow away on a ship, was deported without warning, and not even his lawyer was informed. This deportation shows a marked departure from standard procedure, and has been…
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36 Bankers, 96 Years In Jail
Local news outlet Fréttablaðið has calculated that in the past few years the Icelandic judiciary has sentenced 36 bankers to a total of 96 years in prison. All of the criminal cases are linked to the notorious crash of the Icelandic banking system in 2008. …
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Suspected Murderer Of Klevis Sula Set To Be Released From Custody Today
The man who is suspected of attacking two Albani men in the Reykjavík city centre, including Klevis Sula who died from his wounds, is set to be released from custody today, as the 12 days he was set to be detained for…
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31% Of Inmates Suicidal, 80% Addicted To Drugs
Speaking at a conference hosted by SÁÁ, the National Centre of Addiction Medicine, Þráinn Farestveit, director of the halfway house Vernd, said that many former inmates face isolation upon returning to society. He said that 7% have no contact with family or…
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Prisoners’ Advocacy Group Issues Statement On Prison Reporting
Afstaða, the Association for Betterment, has released a statement in response to a news story we reported on an ongoing incident at the Litla-Hraun prison. As reported, RÚV had originally stated a prison guard had repeatedly called a prisoner a “jerk”, prompting…
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Prison In Hot Water Over Prisoner Being Repeatedly Called A “Jerk”
The Parliamentary Ombudsman has recommended that the Minister of the Interior investigate the complaints of a prisoner at Litla-Hraun prison that a guard there has repeatedly called him a “jerk”. RÚV reports that the Ombudsman has emphasised to the Minister that relations…