Bára Halldórsdóttir, who made the now-infamous recording of six politicians’ crude conversation at Klaustur bar, has received a court summons from the District Court of Reykjavík. RÚV reports that Bára has been summoned to the court next week in order to inform her that legal action could be taken against her and that she may need to prepare for the eventuality. Bára has engaged lawyers Auður Tinna Aðalbjarnardóttir and Ragnar Aðalsteinsson from law firm Réttur – Aðalsteinsson & Partners Ltd. for legal counsel.
Bára was at Klaustur Bar on November 20, when she overheard six Centre Party and People’s Party MPs utter disparaging remarks about thier colleagues. When the conversation continued in the same vein, she decided to begin recording it on her phone. Bára submitted the recording to media under the alias “Marvin,” but eventually outed herself in the media on December 7 as the person responsible for the recordings.
On the recordings, the six MPs, including former Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and former Foreign Affairs Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, utter sexist, ableist, and homophobic comments about their colleagues. The recordings have led to public protest and international media attention.
“I’m a disabled woman, I am queer, and I’m used to being talked about in this way, though maybe not with that choice of words exactly, and of course you take it personally,” Bára has stated. She told Stundin: “I don’t find it a particularly comforting thought that men that think this way about women, and make jokes at the expense of disabled and queer people as well, are making decisions about our lives.”
