Icelandic Member of Parliament Says Her Private Messages On Twitter Are Requested by the US Department of Justice

A scandal connected to WikiLeaks is on the verge of occurring as Icelandic member of the parliament Birgitta Jonsdottir said the United States Department of Justice has subpoenaed Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, former WikiLeaks volunteer, said last night in a tweet that the DOP is interested in her messages tweeted since November 1, 2009.

She is asking on Twitter whether U.S. officials do a sloppy work or they really don’t know she is a member of Icelandic parliament.

Birgitta Jonsdottir said she had 10 days to fight by legal means the DOP’s order to be entrusted with her messages.

She added that by this action DOP is actually sending a message and that in fact they are interested in far more than just her tweets.

She considers the order issued by DOP as a threat to all who have cooperated with the whistle-blowing website. She thinks it is her duty to stop this abuse, being a member of parliament, and being protected to some extend, so that the abuse may not exert an influence on people that are not being protected by the parliamentary immunity.

The MP said she requested a private meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland, considering that the DOP has really exaggerated this time. Furthermore, since the justice department has requested Twitter information about her, she is now assessing her legal stand on the matter.

Twitter made no comment on this particular item, but specified that it is their policy to notify people when their privacy is being trespassed by any governmental requests.

Twitter also specifies that most of the messages it hosts are public, but that there are private messages that can be sent, and these are the center of attention in this case.

This incident seems for many observers an indication that the United States Department of Justice is building a case against Julian Assange, the leader of the website.

Birgitta Jonsdottir is involved in the release to WikiLeaks of a video that shows the United States troops shooting two Reuters reporters in Iraq.

US authorities are trying to establish whether the video was leaked to the website by private Bradley Manning. The hacker that reported Manning to the authorities said that he first contacted the site in late November 2009.

Jonsdottir distanced herself from WikiLeaks and Assange, saying he should resolve his problem with the accusations in Sweden.

In Iceland she is promoting a media initiative aimed at making the country a paradise for journalists and media outlets.