Appeal the dismissal of terrorist charges to the National Court
Karl Ingi Vilbergsson, the district attorney for the district attorney’s office. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
The ruling of the Reykjavík District Court, that Ísidór Nathansson and Sindri Snær Birgisson will not be charged with preparation for terrorism, will be appealed to the National Court.
This is confirmed by Karl Ingi Vilbergsson, the district attorney for the district attorney’s office.
District Court dismissed terrorist charges
On Monday, a judge at the District Court dismissed two counts in the terrorism case, which refer to offenses involving preparation of acts of terrorism. Lawyers for both defendants asked for the dismissal because of the unclear wording in the indictment. The judge accepted the issue of unclear wording.
Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, the defense attorney for Sindri Snær Birgisson. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
The district attorney's office had three days to respond to the dismissal and make a decision on the matter. On Monday they reached their conclusion.
“It’s a reasonable and correct outcome. We were expecting this,” said Sveinn Andri Sveinsson on Monday, but he is the defense attorney for Sindri Snær Birgisson, who is one of the defendants in the case.
The prosecutor will take a statutory appeal period in order to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Landsréttur.
So Sveinn Andri says the rest will depend on what the prosecution does.
However, he says that there is a great deal of relief for his client.
“If it stays like this – there will only be minor punishments.”
Einar Oddur Sigurðsson, the defense attorney for Ísidór Nathansson. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
Einar Oddur Sigurðsson, who is defending Ísidór Nathansson, echoed Sveinn Andra’s words on Monday, saying that it was a positive result.
"The result is in line with the expectations we had," he says.
When mbl.is spoke to Einar, shortly after the court’s indictment ended on Monday, he said that the judge seemed to agree on the inexplicability of the charges and that the Danish precedent cited in the hearing on January 26 does not fit this case.
“The views of the district attorney are not taken into consideration to treat these cases in the same way.”
Einar had not spoken to his client at the time but said he expected him to be very relieved.
"Of course we need to see now how the case will develop, whether the district attorney will appeal the ruling. That will be revealed shortly."
Now the question is whether the National Court agrees with the District Court of if it comes to a different conclusion.
