Reykjavik: Iceland's former prime minister has rejected charges he failed to adequately protect his country's economy from financial shocks in the first criminal trial of a world leader over the 2008 financial crisis.
"I reject all accusations, and believe there is no basis for them," Geir Haarde said as he took the stand yesterday. He said it was the first chance he had to answer questions in the case.
Haarde became a symbol of the bubble economy for Icelanders who lost their jobs and homes after the country's main commercial banks collapsed in 2008, sending its currency into a nosedive and inflation soaring.
Prosecutors opened the case at the Landsdomur, a special court being convened for the first time in Iceland's history.
Part of their case hinges on a charge that Haarde failed to implement recommendations a government committee had drawn up in 2006 to strengthen Iceland's economy.
Haarde told the court that the committee's work could not have prevented Iceland's economic crash.
"Nobody predicted that there would be a financial collapse in Iceland" in 2008, he said, adding that the government did not fully understand how much debt the country's banks had on their books.
