The wives of two jailed bankers have called out the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, for refusing to meet with one of them in private to discuss her husband's case. Guðni turned down the request for a meeting, arguing it was inappropriate for the President of Iceland to discuss or intervene in the cases of individuals whose cases felt they had met injustice at the hands of the state.
Guðni reveals what he is made of
Tinna Brynjólfsdóttir, the wife of Magnús Arnar Arngrímsson, who was managing director of corporate banking at failed bank Glitnir, wrote an op-ed for the local news site Vísir, criticizing Guðni for his refusal to meet her, saying that this refusal exposed him:
Now we see what Guðni is made of. He doesn't even want know what I have to say!
Magnús Arnar has been found guilty in two of the largest criminal cases against former bankers and financiers stemming from the 2008 financial crash. In December 2015 the Supreme Court sentenced him to 2 years in prison in a case which involved market manipulation, breach of fiduciary duty and accounting fraud.
Read more: Bankers Behind Bars: A guided walking tour through the collapse of Iceland's banking system in 2008
In November 2016 Magnús was then sentenced to two years in prison by the District Court of Reykjavík for his involvement in a case was sentenced to two years in prison by the Icelandic Supreme Court in a separate case involving fraudulent loans and breach of fiduciary duty.
Innocent victims of an unjust system
Tinna believes her husband is an innocent victim of the miscarriage of justice by the Icelandic courts. In her article Tinna says she doesn't want the president to intervene personally, only listen to her side of the story. The main occupation of our new President seems to be to look good on social media, and he seems to pick things to do which allow him to pursue this goal.
Read more: Jailed bankers accused of wanting to live in luxury behind bars
The wife of a second financier, Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttir also wrote an op-ed for Vísir, criticizing Guðni for his refusal to meet with Tinna's husband is the tycoon Ólafur Ólafsson, one of the most prominent pre-crash Corporate Vikings. Ólafur was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by the Supreme Court of Iceland in February 2015 for his involvement in one of the largest market pre-crash manipulation cases, involving the failed bank Kaupþing.
Iceland has violated the human rights of its financiers and bankers
In her article Ingibjörg criticizes the president for opening up the President's official residence Bessastaðir to the public, but refusing to meet with Tinna:
His answer leaves me speechless. He has made an effort of opening up Bessastaðir to people. He has, among other things, opened the doors to refugees, which is good and well, and he has drawn attention to the problems of minority groups. Of course these meetings have all taken place in front of the media, and they have been advertised on his Facebook page and in the media.
Ingibjörg writes that she is shocked that the president would then refuse to meet with a person in complete despair who wants to meet with him to talk about a serious issue, that the Icelandic state is violating the human rights of its subjects.
A wildly popular president
Guðni Th. was recently the subject of international attention after he claimed, jokingly, he would ban pineapples as a pizza topping. He has made great efforts to reduce the pomp and circumstance surrounding the presidency and thus distance himself from the legacy of his predecessor Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Ólafur Ragnar was criticized by many Icelanders for his cozy relations with Icelandic bankers and Corporate Vikings. A recent poll revealed that Guðni has an approval rating of 97%.
The wives of two jailed bankers have called out the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, for refusing to meet with one of them in private to discuss her husband's case. Guðni turned down the request for a meeting, arguing it was inappropriate for the President of Iceland to discuss or intervene in the cases of individuals whose cases felt they had met injustice at the hands of the state.
Guðni reveals what he is made of
Tinna Brynjólfsdóttir, the wife of Magnús Arnar Arngrímsson, who was managing director of corporate banking at failed bank Glitnir, wrote an op-ed for the local news site Vísir, criticizing Guðni for his refusal to meet her, saying that this refusal exposed him:
Now we see what Guðni is made of. He doesn't even want know what I have to say!
Magnús Arnar has been found guilty in two of the largest criminal cases against former bankers and financiers stemming from the 2008 financial crash. In December 2015 the Supreme Court sentenced him to 2 years in prison in a case which involved market manipulation, breach of fiduciary duty and accounting fraud.
Read more: Bankers Behind Bars: A guided walking tour through the collapse of Iceland's banking system in 2008
In November 2016 Magnús was then sentenced to two years in prison by the District Court of Reykjavík for his involvement in a case was sentenced to two years in prison by the Icelandic Supreme Court in a separate case involving fraudulent loans and breach of fiduciary duty.
Innocent victims of an unjust system
Tinna believes her husband is an innocent victim of the miscarriage of justice by the Icelandic courts. In her article Tinna says she doesn't want the president to intervene personally, only listen to her side of the story. The main occupation of our new President seems to be to look good on social media, and he seems to pick things to do which allow him to pursue this goal.
Read more: Jailed bankers accused of wanting to live in luxury behind bars
The wife of a second financier, Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttir also wrote an op-ed for Vísir, criticizing Guðni for his refusal to meet with Tinna's husband is the tycoon Ólafur Ólafsson, one of the most prominent pre-crash Corporate Vikings. Ólafur was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by the Supreme Court of Iceland in February 2015 for his involvement in one of the largest market pre-crash manipulation cases, involving the failed bank Kaupþing.
Iceland has violated the human rights of its financiers and bankers
In her article Ingibjörg criticizes the president for opening up the President's official residence Bessastaðir to the public, but refusing to meet with Tinna:
His answer leaves me speechless. He has made an effort of opening up Bessastaðir to people. He has, among other things, opened the doors to refugees, which is good and well, and he has drawn attention to the problems of minority groups. Of course these meetings have all taken place in front of the media, and they have been advertised on his Facebook page and in the media.
Ingibjörg writes that she is shocked that the president would then refuse to meet with a person in complete despair who wants to meet with him to talk about a serious issue, that the Icelandic state is violating the human rights of its subjects.
A wildly popular president
Guðni Th. was recently the subject of international attention after he claimed, jokingly, he would ban pineapples as a pizza topping. He has made great efforts to reduce the pomp and circumstance surrounding the presidency and thus distance himself from the legacy of his predecessor Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Ólafur Ragnar was criticized by many Icelanders for his cozy relations with Icelandic bankers and Corporate Vikings. A recent poll revealed that Guðni has an approval rating of 97%.
