The trial of the Al-Thani case will most likely be postponed by ten months because defense lawyers Gestur Jónsson and Ragnar H. Hall resigned from the case against the judge’s wishes. The judge met with the prosecutor and new defense lawyers on Monday.
Photo copyright Icelandic Photo Agency.
The four defendants in the Al-Thani case, former key executives and majority owners of Kaupþing Bank Sigurður Einarsson, Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, Ólafur Ólafsson and Magnús Guðmundsson, are among other charges accused of market manipulation in relation with Sheik Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar’s acquisition of more than five percent of shares in Kaupþing shortly before it collapsed in autumn 2008. If convicted, they could be facing several years in prison, ruv.is reports.
The eight-day trial, which was supposed to conclude yesterday, was postponed for an undecided period of time due to Gestur’s and Ragnar’s move. They criticized the proceedings, maintaining that the rights of the defendants had been violated. Ólafur Eiríksson and Þórólfur Jónsson were appointed defense lawyers in their stead.
Monday’s meeting only lasted five minutes and neither the prosecutor nor the defense lawyers would comment to the media afterwards.
However, according to information from Reykjavík District Court, it is likely that the trial won’t resume until February 2014 to give the new defense lawyers time to familiarize themselves with the extensive case; the dossier is several thousand pages long.
Related:
11.04.2013 | Principal Proceedings in Al-Thani Case Postponed
07.03.2013 | Sheiks Refuse to Bear Witness in Kaupþing Case
ESA
