Denies planning terror attacks
The Special Forces were a part of the operation last week when four men were arrested believed to have been plotting a terrorist attack. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
"I think the arrest was not aggressive. It was a big operation, but the man was not thrown on the ground or anything like that," says Ómar Örn Bjarnþórsson, the defense attorney for one of the the men in police custody who was apprehended in Holtasmári last week. The man is suspected of planning a terrorist attack against the police or the Parliament. According to Bjarnþórsson, his client is cooperative in the investigation. The man willingly gave the police his passwords to his phone and computer and all the data that the police has found during the investigation.
Denies contact with foreign extremist groups
The defense attorney stresses that his client has denied all allegations and says that he was not planning a terrorist attack or a mass murder.
Eggert Jóhannesson
He, furthermore, claims that his client does not recognize being in any contact with foreign extremist groups and he vehemently denies having been a part of a shooting in downtown Reykjavík earlier this year.
Police was called on him when he was 12 years old
Bjarnþórsson, however, confirms the story of the police and the Special Forces having had contact with his client in 2009. In that case the authorities were alerted that an armed man was in a car outside the drugstore Lyfja in Lágmúli in Reykjavík. The armed man turned out to be a twelve year old boy with a toy gun, the same person who is now the main suspect in this first alleged terrorist case in Iceland.
"We discussed this occurrence, but he was not asked whether he held a grudge because of this incidence," says Bjarnþórsson about that case.
No information until there is a press conference
Gunnar Hörður Garðarsson, who is the spokesperson for the State Police says to mbl.is that the police will not talk about this case with the media, but there will be press conferences.
Gunnar Hörður Garðarsson segir ríkislögreglustjóra munu standa að fræðslu um fordóma á næstunni.
"We are going to stick to the press conferences and will not comment on anything at this point. We will try to give information in these meetings about the progress of the case, although there is a lot of material that needs to be investigated."
He says he could not comment on whether the media had been publishing correct information regarding the case, but some of the information about this case has been from unidentified sources of the media and has not been verified by the police.
Garðarsson says that the next press conference will probably be next Wednesday, but possibly earlier.
