Apparently the activist was told by the Icelandic police that she was to pay a 100.000 kronur (£840) fine for her involvement in protests against ALCOA in the east of Iceland in the summer of 2006, or face prison. She chose the latter.

At this time we do not know where she will be held.

Other foreign protesters have their passports held at ransom by the police for fines based on accusations for obstructing the police, but no actual charges.

Here at Saving Iceland we seem to remember that passports are the property of the States that they are issued in.

Thus, not for the first time, the Icelandic police may actually be breaching international law by blackmailing foreign citizens who are exercising their democratic right to protest against the corrupt heavy industry policy that the Icelandic government continues to maintain.

In Marcch this year the Left-Green party in Iceland called in parliament for an independent investigation into the conduct of the Icelandic police against Saving Iceland protesters in the the years of 2005 and 2006.

It is high time that the autocratic and frequently violent methods of the Icelandic police against peaceful protesters come under serious scrutiny.