A police officer at the narcotics division of the Reykjavík Metropolitan Police, charged with corruption, violation on the job and violating his duty of confidentiality, denied charges when his case was filed at the Reykjavík District Court this morning, RÚV reports. Two other men, also charged, denied charges as well. One of them (from now on referred to as ‘Number 2’) has previously been sentenced for a drug violation, while the other one (‘Number 3’) has no criminal record.
The police officer, who is in his 40s, was arrested and placed in police detention at the beginning of the year.
He is charged with accepting two smart phones, Nokia 130 and Samsung Galaxy, for revealing to ‘Number 2’ last fall that he had not heard his colleagues at the narcotics department mention his name.
Shortly before accepting the phones, the police officer was among eight officers who reported to a former superior their suspicion that another officer had engaged in inappropriate communication with a known offender and protected him. That officer’s case was widely covered in the media. He was transferred and later fired when the investigation of his case by the district prosecutor began. The four-month-long investigation revealed no violation of any kind, and the officer has since returned to his job.
In addition to accepting the two phones in exchange for information, the police officer is charged with demanding money from ‘Number 2’ by sending him an SMS in August of 2012.
The police officer and ‘Number 2’ allegedly met in Öskjuhlíð, Reykjavík, where the former told the latter about the inner organization and affairs of the narcotics division. The two allegedly shared information for four years, without the knowledge of police superiors.
The police officer is also charged for his communication with ‘Number 3,’ who does not appear to be connected to any criminal organization. That third man is alleged to have tried to use his connection to the police officer to get him to obtain for him a confidential 2010 report from the winding-up board of Kaupþing bank. Their communications were by SMS in the fall of 2013, but the police officer allegedly made ‘Number 3’ promise him two flight tickets with WOW Air and ISK half a million (USD 4,400, EUR 4,200) in exchange for the report.
