Strasbourg, 04.05.2012 – Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate”, will make a fact-finding visit to Iceland from 7 to 9 May 2012 to examine the case of former Prime Minister Geir Haarde, who was put on trial for failing to take appropriate ministerial action to avert the 2008 banking crisis.

The rapporteur is due to meet with Mr Haarde and his defense attorney, the prosecutor in the case and the Chair of the parliamentary review committee set up to look into the matter, among others. He will also meet the Chair of Iceland’s Constitutional Council, as well as two professors of constitutional law, and members of the Icelandic delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly.

As part of the preparation of his report, Mr Omtzigt is also due to visit Ukraine to look into the criminal charges filed against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and several members of her government. PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights will hold a hearing on this topic on 21 May in Paris.

Contact: Günter Schirmer, secretariat of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, mobile: +33 (0)6 38 68 18 93.