Daily Northern

Nordic News, Every Day

Menu

Chief Prosecutor orders reopening of investigation into Solaris founder and volunteers over alleged bribery claims

Tuesday 16th 2024 on 11:31 in  
Iceland

The Chief Prosecutor has ordered the Chief of Police in the capital area to reopen the investigation into Sema Erla Serdaroglu, founder of Solaris, and Maria Lilja Ing­veld­ar Þrast­ar­dótt­ir Kemp, volunteers of the association, over alleged bribes by Solaris.

Helgi Magnus Gunnarsson, Deputy Chief Prosecutor, confirmed this. Thus, it is obligatory for the Police Chief to complete the investigation into the matter of Sema Erla and Maria Lilja and finally decide whether there is cause to issue a charge against them.

Helgi Magnus says that the decision of the Chief Prosecutor is based on the lack of a clear assessment of the criminality of the alleged behavior of Sema Erla and Maria Lilja in relation to the provisions of public fund collection laws. “This revolves around the interpretation of the laws and comparing the behavior to the laws and assessing whether this behavior is punishable,” he says.

Helgi Magnus says it is not uncommon for the Chief Prosecutor to call for an investigation to be reopened if it is dismissed. “Sometimes this is about the decision being based on the wrong legal grounds,” he says.

The District Prosecutor referred the original indictment of Einar S. Halfdanarson, Supreme Court lawyer, to the police in the capital area. He reported Solaris’s fundraising for the relocation of Palestinian people from Gaza to the police in early March.

The Police Chief did not see a basis for continuing the investigation into the case and dismissed it.

Einar S. accused Sema Erla and Maria Lilja of violating public fund collection laws, bribing foreign public officials, and financing terrorism.