States His Words Were Overinterpreted
National Police Commissioner Haraldur Johannessen. mbl.is/Hari
Iceland’s National Police Commissioner Haraldur Johannessen tells Morgunblaðið today that his comments in a previous interview, regarding corruption within the police force, have been overinterpreted.
Haraldur has been under criticism lately for his administrative methods and other issues. The publication of a September 14 interview in Morgunblaðið intensified the debate, and subsequently, all but one chief of police in the country declared they no longer had confidence in the national police commissioner.
Haraldur was especially criticized for remarking in the interview, “I have also pointed out that corruption should not be tolerated within the police force,” and for his final remark when asked if he has anything further to add. He responds by stating, “That would be the subject of another interview if these accusations lead to an employment termination. That would call for another, more in-depth interview on what has been going on behind the scenes.”
In his defense, Haraldur tells Morgunblaðið today that when discussing corruption in the interview, he was, among other things, referring to the results of a report by The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body – a report which deals with ways to fight corruption among Iceland’s highest officials and in the police force.
“[In the interview], that’s what I’m referring to, as well as the recommendations and warnings made there, but also to isolated cases, which have come up in recent years,” Haraldur states.
“But my words regarding corruption have unexpectedly been interpreted to mean that I maintained there is general corruption within the police force. I have never said that, neither in this interview, nor elsewhere. Those who maintain that ought to read the interview,” he notes.
Mbl.is reported yesterday that Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir is looking into the possibility of merging the post of national police commissioner with that of the Capital Area Police Department.
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