Chief prosecutor orders reopening of Solaris bribery investigation, lawyer remains confident of dismissal
The chief prosecutor has ordered the police commissioner in the capital area to reopen an investigation into alleged bribery payments made by the association Solaris. The lawyer for Sema Erla, the Chair of Solaris, expects that the police will once again dismiss the case.
The National Police Commissioner has requested the city’s police commissioner conclude an investigation into Sema Erla Serdaroglu and Maria Lilja Ingveldar Þrastardóttir Kemp over alleged bribe payments of the association Solaris. Sema Erla’s lawyer is not particularly worried about this demand from the chief prosecutor.
In early March, Einar S. Hálfdánarson, a Supreme Court lawyer, reported the fundraising of the Solaris association to the police. The fundraiser was for the purpose of helping the people of Palestine in Gaza. In the complaint, Sema Erla and Maria Lilja are accused of having violated laws on public collections, bribery payments to foreign public officials, and financing terrorism.
The police commissioner began the investigation after a district prosecutor referred it to the police. The commissioner did not believe there were grounds to continue the investigation and therefore dismissed it. According to the chief prosecutor, the police commissioner did not provide satisfactory explanations for stopping the investigation. Therefore, the case has been reopened.
Helga Vala Helgadóttir, Sema Erla’s lawyer, does not consider it serious that the chief prosecutor demands better justification from the police commissioner for dismissing the case. She says she was unaware that Einar S. Hálfdánarson, the complainant, had reported the police commissioner’s decision to the chief prosecutor. The complainant has no evidence to support his case.
“Given the data and information available, I don’t see the police doing anything other than dismissing the case again. But let’s see if any new groundbreaking data has emerged. I find it unlikely”, says Helga Vala.