Bjort Framtie, one of the three government coalition parties in Iceland, early yesterday announced that it has decided to leave the government following allegations that the prime minister’s party had attempted a cover-up involving the clearing of a sex offender’s criminal history.
Benedikt Sveinsson, the father of Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, was accused of writing a letter recommending the clearing of convicted sex offender Hjalti Sigurjon Hauksson.
Hauksson was in 2004 sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment for serious and repeated sexual offenses against his stepdaughter from when she was five until she was 17.
Criminals convicted of serious offenses in Iceland can apply to authorities to have their “honor restored,” effectively erasing their criminal records.
Among the requirements to obtain the status is a letter of recommendation by a close friend or an associate.
Initially, the Icelandic Ministry of Justice, led by Icelandic Minister of Justice and Benediktsson’s party member Sigrieur Andersen, refused to disclose who had written a recommendation for Hauksson.
However, following a parliamentary committee ruling that the ministry had gone beyond laws dictating freedom of information, the ministry revealed that Sveinsson had written the letter.
What led to the government breakdown was an interview Andersen gave to Stoe 2 news, in which she said that she had informed Benediktsson about his father’s involvement in July last year, but had not disclosed that information to anyone else.
A close to Bjort Framtid told reporters that the matter had been discussed at a party meeting yesterday, where a unanimous decision had been made to leave the government.
“We held a meeting yesterday and this issue was discussed, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This is not in our spirit and everybody agreed this was the end of it. It came as a complete surprise. It was something we couldn’t have continued with, this is something completely opposed to our principles. The corruption and dishonesty are just incredible,” the person said.
“I was surprised by how everyone agreed and it was immediately apparent that this was happening. This was a real turning point,” they added.
Seventy percent of the party leadership participated in the vote to rift the government, with 87 percent voting in favor.
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