Að gefnu tilefni finnst mér rétt að birta bréf, sem ég hef sent Evu Joly, ráðgjafa sérstaks saksóknara.

Dear Ms. Joly.

I am writing to alert you to the fact that Mr. Gunnar Andersen, the FME director who in the past two years has referred 77 cases to the special prosecutor, has been summarily fired from his position. This happens while the special prosecutor scores a major victory at the Supreme Court which has sentenced the former permanent secretary of the ministry of finance to an unconditional two-year prison term for insider trading, the first such case of about a dozen still under investigation.

A lawyer for the owners of Glitnir and other bankers under investigation have been after Gunnar for months, even on state television, waving a report allegedly casting a shadow over Gunnar's work at Landsbanki over ten years ago, a report that a lawyer asked by the FME board to review the case did not find compromising in any way. The FME board then asked another, well-connected lawyer (this is Iceland) who, without any new information on the matter, gave the board what it wanted. I have read his report. It contains nothing new of substance, only speculation. The FME board claims that its decision is necessary to maintain confidence, an argument that no one has made except the bankers and their agents.

I am certain that, if the board decision is allowed to stand, it will hurt Iceland's reputation abroad and undermine confidence at home because it gives the impression that, three years after the crash, the government, or part of it, is still in bed with the bankers.

I am hoping that the minister in charge, the former finance minister, will use the weekend to sack the FME board and withdraw its letter to Gunnar, but I am not optimistic. The consequences can be dire.

With best wishes,

Thorvaldur Gylfason.