Two journalists arrested for blackmailing Iceland’s Prime Minister over information he financed the acquisition of a local media company.
Icelandic journalists Hlin Einarsdottir and Malin Brand have been arrested for blackmailing the Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmund David Gunnlaugssonar.
The sisters sent a handwritten note to the Prime Minister’s home with a threat to release information they had discovered about his business dealings into the public domain unless he parted with several million Icelandic Kroner in return for their silence.
Upon being arrested, the sisters admitted to blackmail, and have since been released awaiting for the case to be investigated further and for the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine the next steps.
The information that the sisters held against the Prime Minister was regarding his alleged ties with Media businessman Björn Ing iHrafnsson and in particular his alleged financing of the acquisition of local media company dv.is, with the sisters claiming they possessed emails between the two regarding this, with Hlin an ex-girlfriend of Björn Ingi.
Björn Ingi has made a statement denying this:
“I do not know about it, I know nothing about this issue. No one has asked me about it. The Prime Minister has nothing to hide since referred the matter to the police”
These are clearly, serious accusations, and this is just the beginning of a story that could have serious repercussions for all involved, especially if the allegations prove to hold true.
From a journalistic point of view, it’s disappointing that Hlin and Malin decided to use the information they apparently possessed for attempted personal gain (for what quite frankly was a nominal amount: rumoured to be under €100,000) rather than putting the Icelandic public first, however, we are yet to hear their side of the story as to why they did this.
As it stands though, they appear to be guilty of corruption, which is what they were accusing the Prime Minister of in the first place.
There is a lack of comment from the Prime Minister’s office or the police at this point, as well as a lack of coverage in English, therefore I will update this post as this continues to play out.
For those who can read Icelandic or simply enjoy using Google Translate, then Kjarninn.is is your best bet for reading more, or use the hashtags #lekasystur #fjárkúgun #mahlin to follow the Icelandic chatter on Twitter.
Update 3rd June:
There has since been a number of denials, most notably from the Prime Minister himself, and from one of the sisters. I have translated both of their statements below.
The Prime Minister:
Because of the news that has appeared on the matter today with reference to the threats made against me, I feel it is right to state that I have no financial relationship with Björn Ingi Hrafnsson, nor have I come to purchase Vefpressunnar on DV in anyway.
Malin Brand:
The essence of the matter is that I was mixed up into the scenario, I neither organized nor participated in any way except for being family.
Malin went on to say that it was her sister Hlin who wrote the letter and was behind the blackmailing, although she admitted to driving her sister to where the money drop was supposed to happen and where they were subsequently arrested.
Despite the Prime Ministers denial, it is still to be revealed exactly who was behind the financing of the acquisition, and until this is clarified we can expect this story to remain open.
I write about the Nordic technology and startup scene over at The Nordic Web
