Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, former CEO of Kaupþing Bank, may have begun his prison sentence at the small detention center on Skólavörðustígur in central Reykjavík, but he was yesterday moved to Kvíabryggja, where he will see out the rest of his sentence.
There has been some debate since the sentences were passed about whether it is fair to other prisoners in Iceland that former chiefs of Kaupþing, sentenced because of their part in the Al-Thani affair, should go straight to Kvíabryggja. Kvíabryggja is classed as an open prison, while the offenses of the Kaupþing executives are classed as “serious”.
[stextbox id=”black” caption=”Al-Thani Affair Conclusion”]The Supreme Court of Iceland concluded in its verdict yesterday when sentencing four former key executives of Kaupþing Bank to prison that Sheik Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar’s acquisition of a five percent share in the bank two weeks before the banking collapse in 2008 was a deception.The Supreme Court of Iceland ruled in the Al-Thani case in February, handing down a five-year sentence to Hreiðar Már, Vísir reports. He arrived at the prison yesterday, looking worn and unhappy.[/stextbox]
Other claims of potentially unfair treatment are rumors that the Kaupþing bosses have been told they will most likely only need to serve half their sentences, and that Hreiðar Már was apparently held in special solitary accommodation in a comfortable apratment on Skólavörðustígur in central Reykjavik, where he would not need to mix with the other inmates.
The head of Icelandic prisons, Páll Winkel, has assured reporters that banksters are not getting any special treatment, but other prisoners are known to disagree.
Related: Doing Time in Iceland
