Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson appointed Sigrídur J. Fridjónsdóttir to the office of state prosecutor yesterday. She will be the first woman to serve that position in Iceland when she replaces Valtýr Sigurdsson, who retired on April 1.
Fridjónsdóttir accepts the position from Jónasson. Courtesy of the Ministry of the Interior.
According to Morgunbladid, Fridjónsdóttir used to serve as deputy state prosecutor but requested leave from office when she was appointed prosecutor for the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, in its case against former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde for alleged misconduct in office before the High Court (Landsdómur).
It is uncertain whether Fridjónsdóttir will continue as the parliament’s prosecutor after she assumes her duties as state prosecutor.
She told Fréttabladid that there are three options, the first being that she discontinue her work for Althingi.
“But it isn’t especially simple because I was elected to this position. The law states that a deputy prosecutor should be elected to take over if the main prosecutor is unable to fulfill his or her duties but that isn’t really the case when one is hired to a new job,” she explained.
The second option is to appoint a temporary state prosecutor until the case against Haarde has been completed. “But of course I’d like to take on the job as soon as possible. There are many things that have to be done,” Fridjónsdóttir commented.
The third option is to simply do both jobs; it happens that people take on side projects alongside their main positions, Fridjónsdóttir explained. “But this case might be different. I have to reflect on it with others.”
She discussed the matter with MP Atli Gíslason, who chairs the parliamentarian committee in this case. He will call the committee together and have Fridjónsdóttir attend the meeting to discuss the situation.
Fridjónsdóttir said the High Court case doesn’t have to take any more than a few weeks after the charge has been issued, which can hopefully be done before Easter. She and her team are currently going through all of Haarde’s emails from his time as PM.
Click here to read more about the case against Haarde.
