REYKJAVÍK – The former prime minister of Iceland, facing trial on negligence charges over the financial crisis, said yesterday the case was a political game and that he expected to be cleared.
Parliament on Tuesday voted to bring negligence charges Geir Haarde (59), who led the country during events leading to the 2008 banking collapse.
A court hearing would mean the first sitting of the Landsdomur, a special chamber set up in 1905 to try government ministers accused of crimes. The next step is for parliament to appoint a special prosecutor to bring the charges against Mr Haarde before the court.
“Old political enemies are settling a political score as far as I’m concerned. It’s a political game, it’s an ugly game and it’s a very sad thing to criminalise the political process in this way,” Mr Haarde told reporters. “I do not see any element of criminal intent or anything that meets the criteria for a prosecution on this basis. This is why I am confident of the outcome and I am sure that I will be vindicated.”
Mr Haarde, prime minister from 2006 to 2009, was the first political leader to lose power as a direct result of the global financial crisis when his coalition collapsed after protests.
Iceland’s three main banks collapsed in late 2008 under a mountain of debt, sending the economy into a tailspin. Parliament voted against charging three other ministers. – (Reuters)