Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.07.2006, Side 5

Child Molester Promises to Stop – Gets
Probation
A man in his sixties has been convicted of
sexually molesting two girls, born in 1996 and
1998 respectively, at their home and in his car
on several separate occasions. The Reykjanes
district court did not see fit to hand down a
jail sentence, however, and instead suspended
his seven-month jail term for four years. This
means that he will remain a free man as long
as he is not convicted of another offence in the
next four years.

The verdict noted that the leniency of the
judgment was in light of the fact that the man
‘promised to seek help’ and stop molesting
children. He was also sentenced to pay his
victims compensation of 150,000 ISK and
250,000 ISK respectively.

Looking at the details of the published verdict,
it becomes clear that both girls suffered lasting
emotional trauma as a result of the abuse and
an expert in child psychology testified to the
fact that the older girl was still suffering from
difficulties that could not be explained by any
other past experience in her life.

The fact that the younger girl appeared to
have less lasting effects from the event was
taken into consideration when establishing the
compensation the accused was ordered to pay
each of them. The ten year old consequently
received 100,000 ISK more than the eight
year old.

A psychiatrist was also brought in to assess the
accused, but spent only four sessions with him
and could come to no conclusion regarding his
potential for rehabilitation. Despite this fact
the court felt satisfied that his promise to seek
help was genuine.
Intercultural Centre Lawyer Attributed,
Misquoted by US Embassy
The Intercultural Centre will file an official
complaint with the U S State Department for
what it calls a “breach of confidentiality” on
the part of embassy workers at their diplo-
matic mission in Iceland.
Margrét Steinarsdóttir, lawyer for the Inter-
cultural Centre and an unwitting contributor
to a recent report on human trafficking by
the State Department, says sensitive infor-
mation pertaining to the identities of female
victims of human trafficking were leaked in
the report.
“I talked to the embassy about certain inci-
dents that female clients had discussed with
me,” Steinarsdóttir told the Grapevine. “All
this was under the condition that I remain
anonymous.”
Instead, the report cites some of their in-
formation as coming from “a lawyer for the
Intercultural Centre,” when there is only one
lawyer working there.

Steinarsdóttir said it could seriously damage
her credibility, and that of the Intercultural
Centre, if the confidentiality of what takes
place between her and her clients is not
respected. Steinarsdóttir furthermore claims
that there is misinformation and several false-
hoods in the embassy’s finished report.

Sally Hodgson, Director of Public Affairs
for the American Embassy in Iceland, had no
comment.

The US embassy has since issued a new
report, removing Steinarsdóttir’s identity
- stated or implied - but has not yet corrected
the factual details that Steinarsdóttir alleges
were also made.
Most Happy That Ásgrímsson is Leaving
According to the latest results of a Gallup
poll, the majority of the nation is happy that
former Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson is
leaving politics.

Nearly 1,200 people between the ages of 18
and 75 were polled, with 64% responding.
Of those, 55% said they were happy that
Ásgrímsson was retiring from politics, while
only 10% were unhappy with his decision.
35% had no opinion either way.

The poll also showed that 40% believe that
Minister of Agriculture Guðni Ágústsson will
be the next chairman of the Progressive Party.
Number of Hotel Guests Increasing
According to Statistics Iceland, hotel visitors
for May 2006 showed a marked increase over
the number of visitors in May 2005, with
the vast majority of the guests from other
countries.

In May 2005, about 87,200 people checked
into hotels, as opposed to 102,100 in May
2006. Of these, over 80,000 were visitors
from other countries, while only about 20,000
Icelanders stayed in hotels during the same
month.

Additionally, the number of Icelanders staying
in hotels is decreasing, while the number of
foreigners checking in continues to increase.
Icelander Sings American Anthem for 4th
The American Embassy’s annual 4th of July
Celebration drew a large, diverse crowd this
year, held at Kjarvalsstaðir, the Reykjavík Art
Museum. Festivities included consumption
of all American food, from mini hamburgers,
to hot dogs, to Dominos pizza - all at least
as popular among younger generations in
Iceland as they are in America. In the spirit of
multiculturalism, the University of Akureyri’s
compelling exhibit on the life of foreigners in
the East Fjörds was on display.

The highlight for many came when Icelandic
Eurovision contestant and pop icon Jónsi
performed the Star Spangled Banner for a full
house.
Man Feeds Dog Decapitated Horse Corpses
Jóhannes Björnsson, a farmer who owns land
in Flekkudalur by Meðalfellsvatn lake, has
been feeding his dogs f ly-ridden, raw horse
f lesh that has lain under the burning mid-
day sun for days at a time. Although Chief
Veterinary Officer Halldór Runólfsson told
Fréttablaðið that this was “highly unusual,”
Jóhannes told the Grapevine that letting one’s
dogs rip at the headless and bloody carcasses
of slaughtered stallions was done “practically
everywhere.”
“It’s not like I’m leaving the whole thing in
there to rot,” Björnsson said. “I give them
about 25% of the horse — loin, calves, that
kind of thing. And it’s clean meat, taken from
healthy animals. It would be like dining at a
fine restaurant.”
Although all would seem to be in good
order, the plot thickened when the Grape-
vine discovered that the only other registered
phone number in Flekkudalur belongs to a pet
cemetery, although they told the Grapevine
that they “usually don’t bury anything larger
than a cat or a dog.”
Government Discourages Construction
to Halt Inflation
As a part of the government’s continuing
effort to reduce inf lation, Finance Minister
Árni Mathiesen, Minister of Social Af-
fairs Magnús Stefánsson, and Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Baldur
Guðlaugsson met with representatives from
the National Association of Local Authorities
on July 3rd to discuss significant cutbacks in
spending on new construction projects.
Representing NALA were Chairman, and
Reykjavík Mayor, Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson
and Director of Information Gunnlaugur
Júlíusson. The preliminary discussion focused
on mapping out an overview of the construc-
tion projects the country’s municipalities hope
to undertake in the upcoming quarters, so the
necessity of each could be properly assessed.
Júlíusson told Morgunblaðið that the minis-
ters plan to look over the projects that have
already been decided to determine which can
be said to encourage some kind of growth
within their respective communities. Building
schools and child-care centres, said Júlíus-
son, encourages settlement and is therefore
worthwhile.
News in Brief
by gunnar hrafn jónsson, paul f. nikolov, bart cameron, sindri eldon, valgerður þóroddsdóttir photos by gúndi
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