Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.01.2006, Side 14
Icelandic Government Criticised
for Supporting the War in Iraq
On 18 March 2003, coalition
forces – led primarily by the US
and the UK - launched an invasion
against Iraq. Along with the help of
countries such as Costa Rica, Palau,
and Eritrea, Iceland also joined in
the effort, allowing planes going to
and coming from Iceland to land,
refuel, and take off in this country.
While then-Prime Minister Davíð
Oddsson and then-Foreign Minister
Halldór Ásgrímsson were both
enthusiastic about taking part – so
much so, that they skipped the entire
process of putting the matter to a
parliamentary vote – the Icelandic
people were themselves less than
enthusiastic.
According to a Gallup poll
conducted at the close of 2004, at
least 78% of the country wanted
out of the “coalition of the willing,”
while a mere 14% favoured the war
effort. With the reflexes Icelandic
protestors are famous for, in January
2005 a group calling itself the
Movement for Active Democracy
published a full-page ad denouncing
Iceland’s participation in the war – in
the New York Times. Thickening
the plot, it became clear that both
Oddsson and Ásgrímsson had
violated the constitution by not
putting the matter to a vote, and
opposition party leaders suddenly
sprang to life, some even calling for
the resignation of the both of them.
In the end, there was only one
resignation: then-Journalists’ Union
President Róbert Marshall, who
resigned from his chair after running
a story for Stöð 2 which put the
time of Oddsson’s communiqué
with the White House off by four
hours. Despite a few more grumbles
within the halls of parliament, the
Foreign Ministry declared the Iraq
controversy “over” by the end of
March 2005.
Bobby Fischer Receives Asylum in
Iceland
On 22 March, former chess world
champion Bobby Fischer was
granted Icelandic citizenship. At the
time, he was being held in a Japanese
prison for trying to travel on a
passport that the US government
invalidated, wanted by American
authorities for breaking a trade
embargo with Yugoslavia in 1992
and later, for tax evasion. Fischer
requested asylum from the Icelandic
government in the summer of
2004, but it wasn’t until that winter
that former bodyguard Sæmundur
Pálsson and a few avid chess players
began to pressure the Icelandic
government into granting Fischer
Icelandic citizenship.
Reaction to the move was a
mix of jubilation, indignation, and
indifference. Many saw Fischer
as a wrongly prosecuted crazy
person wanted for crimes of little
significance, while others saw
him as a justly prosecuted crazy
person undeserving of rubber-
stamped citizenship. Regardless
of public opinion (according to a
Gallup poll conducted in April,
40% believed it was wrong to grant
Fischer citizenship while 25% were
undecided), Fischer’s passport was
sent to Japan. On 25 March, he
arrived in Iceland courtesy of a plane
owned by Baugur Group and, within
18 hours of his arrival, let loose his
infamous anti-Semitism during a
press conference, thereby violating
Iceland’s hate speech law. No
charges were pressed.
While the US did not officially
condemn Iceland for granting
Fischer citizenship, Interpol
informed Icelandic authorities
that should Fischer ever leave the
country, he would be arrested
immediately. Fischer is occasionally
spotted riding the bus or sitting in
bookstores, presumably reading, but
has permanently retired from chess.
Kárahnjúkar Sparks Debate, Again
The Kárahnjúkar dam project made
headlines again in 2005, starting
in April, when geologist Grímur
Highlights from 2005
War, corruption, and spray paint protesting
Björnsson alleged that national
power company Landsvirkjun was
sloppy in its calculations regarding
the earth’s temperature and its
effects on the dam’s construction.
Landsvirkjun dismissed the claims,
but would later have to add 150
square metres to the dam’s size after
not taking into account summer
warmth melting snow and ice in the
highlands, which raised the water
level more than Landsvirkjun had
calculated.
Construction ran into another
snag later that month when
construction contractor Impregilo
was accused of not paying Icelandic
taxes from the wages of foreign
workers. While this matter was
settled out of court, numerous other
labour violations – in particular,
regarding paying foreign workers
a wage consistent with what an
Icelandic worker would make for
the same work – would continue to
plague the company.
At the start of the summer,
aluminium company Alcoa set
its sites on building smelters in
both Suðurnes and Eyjafjörður,
drawing criticism from both
the Leftist-Green Party and a
handful of protestors. This tension
would come to a head in 14 June,
when two Icelanders - Arna Ösp
Magnúsardóttir and Ólafur Páll
Sigurðsson – as well as British
environmental activist Paul Gill
interrupted an industrialists meeting
at Hótel Nordica, splashing attendees
with green-coloured skyr. While
Gill was held and later released with
30 days probation and no fines,
Magnúsardóttir and Sigurðsson
would later be charged with damages.
That July, numerous Icelanders
and foreigners alike would set up
camp in the highlands, not far from
the Kárahnjúkar construction site.
While the site was largely peaceful,
there were some minor instances of
trespassing and damage to property
at the Kárahnjúkar site itself, mostly
in the form of protestors chaining
themselves to heavy machinery and
spray-painting buildings. When the
protestors lost their camping permit,
they would turn to Reykjavík in
August for further spray-painting
activities. After a number of foreign
protestors were deported from the
country, protest actions against the
construction of Kárahnjúkar died
down.
The Kárahnjúkar dam project
continues to this day, with more
aluminium smelters planned for the
near future.
Baugur Group Goes to Trial For
Economic Crimes
Beginning with an investigation
that started in 2002, Jón Ásgeir
Jóhannesson, chairman of corporate
giant Baugur Group, was finally
taken to Reykjavík District Court
in September 2005 for 40 economic
crimes including tax evasion,
fraud, and misappropriation of
funds. While this looked like the
trial of the decade – arguably the
largest employer in Iceland versus
the government, amidst grumbles
(within the Baugur-controlled
media) that the investigation itself
was politically motivated – the court
threw out all charges for lack of
evidence. In addition, the court has
also ordered that the government
treasury will pay primary defence
witness Gestur Jónsson 10,218,275
ISK (about 162,194 USD). The
four other lawyers on Jóhannesson’s
defence team will also be awarded
between one million and 3.7 million
ISK, in addition to 12,788,426 ISK
(about 202,990 USD) in general
damages, which will also be paid
from the state treasury.
Nonetheless, state prosecutors
vowed to take the case to the
Supreme Court, which they did
later in the month. But what gained
considerably more public attention
was the scandal regarding stolen
e-mails: Fréttablaðið reported that
according to e-mails they’ve received,
Jón Steinar Gunnlaugsson - now a
judge on the Supreme Court but a
lawyer in June 2002 - sent editor of
Morgunblaðið Styrmir Gunnarsson a
copy of the case filed against Baugur
by Jón Gerald Sullenberger. Jónína
Benediktsdóttir, who had been in
e-mail contact with Gunnarsson
regarding the Baugur case, says that
Fréttablaðið had stolen her e-mails.
In response, Benediktsdóttir went to
the police and issued an injunction
against Fréttablaðið. The gag order
placed on Fréttablaðið by the police
commissioner still holds.
The Supreme Court only
accepted eight of the 40 charges
against Baugur Group, citing a lack
of clarity in the language of the
charges, which are still pending. As
for whether or not the investigation
of Baugur Group was politically
motivated, Oddsson told Icelandic
television station Stöð 2 last July
that, “If the case against him
[Baugur Group CEO Jón Ásgeir
Johannesson] is politically motivated,
then he has nothing to worry about
as the case will be thrown out of
court.”
Davíð Oddsson Retires to Central
Bank Chairman Position
After 14 years as chairman of the
ruling Independence Party, Davíð
Oddsson officially retired from
politics on 14 October 2005 to take
the chairman position at the Central
Bank. Oddsson’s political career
stretches back over 30 years, starting
out as chairman of the Young
Independence Party members and
serving on Reykjavík city council,
later to become the city’s mayor
from 1982 to 1991. From there, he
became party chairman and prime
minister of Iceland, and handed
power over to Progressive Party
chairman and Foreign Minister
Halldór Ásgrímsson in September
2004, when Oddsson became foreign
minister.
During his farewell speech,
Oddsson heavily criticised the
Social Democratic Party for having
ties to Baugur Group and claimed
that some members of the Social
Democrats seemed to regard the
party as a subsidiary of a cartel.
Social Democrat chairman Ingibjörg
Sólrún Gísladóttir told Fréttablaðið
that she found it remarkable that the
most powerful politician in Iceland
for 14 years should behave like a
bitter victim when he voluntarily
chose to step down. This clearly
showed that he regarded the Social
Democrats as the Independence
Party’s main adversary.
by Paul F. Nikolov photos by Gúndi
Jón Ásgeir, Baugur Group chairman.
Bobby Fischer arriving in Iceland.
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