Gísli Freyr Valdórsson, former political assistant to Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, was today given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for leaking confidential and sensitive information about an asylum seeker.
After the verdict was announced in Reykjavík District Court at 11 am, Gísli told the court that he would not appeal, ruv.is reports. Gísli confessed to Hanna Birna yesterday that he had leaked the information, who subsequently notified the media of his suspension.
Gísli had maintained his innocence ever since he leaked the information in November 2013. Yesterday he stated that he had lied to everyone about the leak, including Hanna Birna. Eventually, he couldn’t live with his guilty conscience anymore, he reasoned.
Deputy State Prosecutor Helgi Magnús Gunnarsson said in court this morning that last weekend his office received new evidence which proved that Gísli was the person behind the leak.
Helgi explained that the evidence showed that Gísli had changed the memo about the asylum seeker and saved it on his computer before deleting it again. Helgi claimed that this was the reason for Gísli’s confession but not a guilty conscience.
According to dv.is, Helgi had requested a three-year prison sentence over Gísli. He did not believe that the confession should result in a milder verdict.
Hanna Birna maintains that she was not involved in leaking the information. Opposition MPs are calling for the minister’s resignation.