Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Side 4
What Are Icelanders
Talking About?
The topics that keep the replies coming
Words: Andie Fontaine Photo: Grapevine Archives
Things heated up mid-
January when former
foreign minister and ambassador
Jón Baldvín Hannibalsson made
the news again, as four women came
forward detailing sexual harass-
ment they endured from him.
Some of these incidents date back
to the 1960s, but some happened as
recently as last summer. In addi-
tion, in a closed Facebook group,
numerous women working in the
service industry have detailed inap-
propriate behaviour he exhibited
towards them. Amazingly, this is
not the first time he has been in the
news for this behaviour, as this was
last brought to light in 2012. And like
back then, it doesn’t seem as though
any consequences are forthcoming,
and he denies all the allegations
against him.
A report on whaling from the
Institute of Economic Studies raised
a number of eyebrows, primarily
due to its conclusions that directly
contradicted a lot of things we know
about whaling and its effects—in
particular its profitability and
impact on fish stocks. People were
quick to point out that the main
researcher for the report is Dr.
Oddgeir Á. Ottesen, who was also
an alternate MP for the Independ-
ence Party, which has always been
pro-whaling. Complicating matters
further was the report’s contention
that it consulted with whale watch-
ing groups as part of the research,
while Rannveig Grétarsdóttir, chair
of the Icelandic Whale Watching
Association, has gone on record
saying that no member of the group
was ever contacted.
Finally, Klausturgate has
reached new levels of absurd-
ity. While the appellate court has
dismissed the demands of the four
MPs trying to take legal action
against whistleblower Bára Hall-
dórsdóttir, two of them—Gunnar
Bragi Sveinsson and Bergþór
Ólason—suddenly returned to
work. Their co-workers were less
than pleased, and Gunnar Bragi
himself was caught in a spectacular
lie after he contended he was in the
midst of a 36-hour blackout when
he spoke abusively about his female
colleagues at a local bar. Not only did
a doctor point out that a blackout of
this length would indicate severe
brain damage, Gunnar Bragi had
previous stated on tape that he did
in fact remember the night in ques-
tion. At the time of this writing, they
are still working in Parliament.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2019First
The usual suspects
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