Birgisson gets two years and Nathansson 18 months

Sindri Snær Birg­is­son was sentenced today to two years in prison in the so-called terror­ism­ case. Ísi­dór Nathans­son received an eighteen-month sentence. They were sentenced for violations of weapon legislation, but acquitted of an attempt of terrorist acts and partaking in an attempt­ of terrorist acts. This was stated in Reykjavík District Court this week. The­ served time in custody will be deducted from­ the­ prison ­sentence­s­.

Various tools, weapons, and other equipment that were in the possession of the men were also confiscated.

There are 538 days that have passed since the police took action, culminating in the arrest and subsequent prosecution of Birgisson and Nathansson. There were operations in Mosfellsbær and Kópavogur, followed by a notice from the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, stating that four people had been arrested “and a crisis was averted”.

The announcement said that the men were arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation of the office of violations relating to treason and violations against the constitution of the state and its highest government.

The case was dismissed on the first trial

Initially, the case was brought in December 2022, where Birgisson was charged with attempted terrorism and felony violations of weapons laws. Nathansson was charged with partaking in attempted terrorism and felony violations of weapons laws.

The lawyers said the charges were unclear when it came to the terrorism part. The case was filed in January 2023 and both men denied the charges when it came to the terrorism part of the charges.

At the parliamentary hearing, the judge announced that he would consider whether to dismiss the charges relating to the planning of terrorism. Afterwards, a parliamentary hearing was held where this was discussed and in February, the judge decided that Birgisson and Nathansson would not be charged with preparing for terrorism.

The district attorney appealed the district court’s ruling to the Landsréttur. The Landsréttur confirmed the ruling, however.

New charges issued

In June, the district attorney then issued a new indictment against Birgisson and Nathansson. Karl Ingi Vilbergsson, prosecutor at the district attorney’s office, told mbl.is that the new indictment was prepared by guidelines from the National Court.

The current charge is twelve pages long and describes in 64 paragraphs how the two men intended to commit terrorist acts.

Birgisson was believed to have shown a "clear intention" to commit terrorist acts between May and September 2022. He has manufactured and acquired firearms, ammunition, and components for firearms and has collected, received, and dedicated material about known terrorists, their methodology, and ideology.

He was alleged to have planned to carry out terrorist acts in Iceland with firearms and/or explosions.

Nathansson was alleged to have given Birgisson his word and deed by participating in and assisting him in the production of firearms. At that time, he was supposed to have known about Birgisson’s plans to commit terrorist acts and encouraged him to do so. Nathansson was supposed to have assisted Birgisson in obtaining police equipment and clothing and to have communicated to Birgisson information about known terrorists, as well as information about bomb and drone making.

Dismissed again, but the National Court wanted a substantive hearing

Again the two men pleaded not guilty and again a motion to dismiss was filed in the case due to the vagueness of the charges. In October, the Reykjavík District Court dismissed the charge again.

In October, however, the National Court annulled the district court's ruling and ordered the court to take the charge to a substantive hearing.

“Foolery,” ricin poison and references to mass-murderers

The main proceedings began on February 8 and lasted four days. There Birgisson described his interaction and communication with Nathansson as “foolery” and that his words had been taken out of context.

Birgisson also said that he was “maybe just being curious and seeking information” about the reason for sending Nathansson a recipe for ricin-poison. He also said that his words about mass murderer Anders Breivik when he said “Mein fuhrer”, or “my boss” were a satire. He said that even though Nathansson and him were producing and selling firearms at the time, their words about an attack were a joke.

In a hearing before the District Court, Nathansson said his and Birgisson’s humor was “disgusting”. He said their speech was unflattering and was characterized by irony, which was poorly delivered in text messages, and that he regretted this. He also said there was no real message behind his intention to kill politicians. “I posed no threat whatsoever,” Nathansson told the court, adding: “ It was the madness of grandeur in a drunk idiot.”

Nathansson also confessed to the court that he was an isolationist and racist and had a strong opinion on immigrants.

Criticized the treatment of the police

Then, Nathansson criticized the police’s treatment of him and that he was oppressed during the three months he was in custody.

The two men admitted to the production of firearms, but Birgisson gave the explanation that he had produced them so the weapons would not work.