Four women describe sexual harassment by former foreign minister

Four women allege sexual harassment by former foreign minister and social democratic leader Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson. The incidents are said to have taken place over a period of over 50 years.

The most recent incident described took place in the Andalusia region of Spain last summer, after Iceland's first match in the FIFA World Cup. 34 year old Carmen Jóhannsdóttir alleges that Mr Hannibalsson groped her at his Salobreña house.

The oldest incidents are described by Matthildur Kristmannsdóttir and María Alexandersdóttir, who were students in Hagaskóli, where Mr Hannibalsson was employed as a teacher in the late 1960s. They allege that he sexually harassed them when they were 13 or 14 years old.

A woman who previously came forward in 2012 and revealed explicit letters Mr Hannibalsson had sent her while she was a teenager also alleges sexual advances. Guðrún Harðardóttir, his wife's niece, says she was between 13 and 17 years old when Mr Hannibalsson took an unusual interest in her. At the time, he was Iceland's ambassador to the United States of America.

The women describe losing faith in the justice system and society as a whole. They recount feelings of shame and depression, while being constantly reminded of the incidents by Mr Hannibalsson's prominence in the media and the public sphere.

Some accounts describe Mr Hannibalsson entering women's bedrooms at night. A number of other women have shared further allegations in a closed MeToo Facebook group and in private meetings.

Mr Hannibalsson denies any wrongdoing. He says he's already apologised repeatedly for writing a letter to Ms Harðardóttir and admits a lapse in judgement. He describes other allegations as a fabrication, fueled by a prolonged dispute between family members.

A storied career in politics

Mr Hannibalsson has been described as an elder statesman of the social democratic movement in Iceland. He was as member of parliament from 1982 to 1998, serving as minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs for a combined 9 years.

In the Baltic states, Mr Hannibalsson is revered for his commitment to independence for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. He's an honorary citizen of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and a recipient of honors from Estonian and Latvian authorities as well.