Iceland’s ex-PM goes on trial over economic woes

Iceland’s ex-prime minister has gone on trial over the country’s financial crisis in 2008.
 
Geir Haarde is accused of failing in his ministerial responsibility as Iceland’s three main banks collapsed and the economy crumbled.
 
Facing up to two years in jail if convicted, he has branded the case a politically-motivated farce and asked the special court to dismiss it.
 
Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, meanwhile, is accusing European countries of bullying Reykjavik over the repayment of debts linked to the fall of its banking sector.
 
Icelandic voters have twice rejected moves to repay billions to Britain and the Netherlands where savers lost money when online bank Icesave went bust. The issue has fuelled public anger in Iceland where citizens feel they have been asked to pay for mistakes they have not made.
 
Icesave’s parent company now says assets recovered from the failed bank will be enough to make the repayments without using public funds.

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