Former Prime Minister of Iceland Geir H. Haarde declared his innocence before the High Court (Landsdómur) yesterday when the Icelandic parliament Althingi’s case against him for misconduct in office in the lead-up to the banking collapse in 2008 opened.
Geir H. Haarde. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Haarde said on RÚV’s news magazine Kastljós last night that he intends to appeal the High Court case before the European Court of Human Rights if he loses it on grounds of which he is not content.
During the hearings, Haarde’s attorney Andri Árnason demanded that eight of the High Court’s judges step down—all of the judges appointed by Althingi—due to doubt that they can rule objectively in this case, ruv.is reports.
Haarde is accused of violating the laws of ministerial responsibility and he dismisses all six items of the charge against him. The charge is based on a parliamentary resolution which was approved at Althingi in the autumn of 2010.
The trial was attended by a number of journalists and Haarde’s family in addition to the court’s employees. At the opening of the court, Haarde’s first move was to shake hands with Althingi’s prosecutor, Sigrídur Fridjónsdóttir.
Click here to read more about this case.
