Thousands turned out Monday to protest Iceland’s prime minister outside parliament in Reykjavik, a day after the release of the massive Panama Papers leak.
One early protester was arrested for throwing skyr —an Icelandic dairy product with the consistency of yogurt— at the house of parliament, according to the Iceland Monitor. The protests started at 5 p.m. local time.
About 10,000 people declared that they went to protest at Austurvöllur Square, according to the event’s Facebook page. Police estimated the crowd at 8,000 people, which duty officer Arnar Runar Marteinsson said is the largest protest he had ever seen in Reykjavik, the Associated Press reported.
Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson faces a possible no confidence vote in parliament over allegations that he deliberately hid vast holdings in troubledIcelandic banks in a complicated web of deceit that includes his wife.
“I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter,” a defiant Gunnlaugsson said, according to AP. “The government has had good results. Progress has been strong and it is important that the government can finish its work.”
National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden tweeted Monday afternoon about the Iceland protest, questioning if it was the “largest protest by percentage of population in history.” The nation has a population of nearly 330,000.
In 2014, Snowden leaked more than 1.5 million documents from the NSA to the press. The Panama Papers contain 10 times that amount.
Gunnlaugsson and his wife allegedly set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with help from Mossack Fonseca —the Panama law firm at the heart of the leak. Gunnlaugsson told parliament that he and his wife have paid their taxes.
The documents show Gunnlaugsson and his wife bought the offshore company in 2007, which he didn’t declare when entering parliament in 2009. The offshore company was used to invest millions of dollars of inherited money. Gunnlaugsson sold his 50% share of the company to his wife for $1 eight months later, the documents allege.
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