Within days of the Panama Papers being released and the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, three bankers who were jailed for involvement in the 2008 financial crisis were released.
The bankers, Sigurdur Einarsson, Olafur Olafsson, Magnus Gudmundsson, were released from a low-security prison yesterday. The reason provided was the passage of a new law that was rushed through Iceland’s parliament in March.
“The parliamentary bill was changed in committee to allow five days of electronic monitoring for every month of a prisoner’s sentence, instead of 2.5 days as it has been. This means that a prisoner sentenced to one year in prison can now spend the last 60 days electronically tagged and in the community, instead of 30 days. The rule change means criminals can now be released earlier from prison.”
The above-quoted change in policy would only account for an additional 30 days of early release. Yet they had over four years left to serve in their jail sentence . Clearly the response provided by Icelandic Review is dubious.
Given Iceland is the only nation to jail bankers for the 2008 financial crisis, one wonder’s, if the Panama Papers leak was a covert attack. The policy change coinciding with the leak may also suggest some kind of power shift is taking place in Iceland.
No doubt more events will emerge as time goes on.
Days After Iceland’s PM Resigns Over “Panama Papers”, Its Bankers Are Released From Jail Years Early
By Tyler Durden
Magnús Guðmundsson, Ólafur Ólafsson and Sigurður Einarsson were one of four men jailed in 2015 in the so-called ‘Al-Thani case’ on charges of breach of trust and market abuse.
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Sources:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-07/case-closed-icelands-bankers-released-jail-years-early
https://www.rt.com/news/338869-iceland-imprisoned-bankers-free/
Image Source – http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/03/27/iceland%20bankers_0.jpg
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