EINARSSON v. ICELAND JUDGMENT
7
THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE CONVENTION
22. The applicant alleged that the Supreme Court judgment of
20 November 2014 entailed a violation of his right to respect for his private
life as provided in Article 8 of the Convention. The relevant parts read as
follows:
“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life...
2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right
except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society
in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the
country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals,
or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
23. The Government contested that argument.
A. Admissibility
24. The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded
within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes
that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be
declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. The parties’ submissions
(a) The applicant
25. The applicant maintained that when X published the altered picture
with the caption “Fuck you rapist bastard” he had been accusing the
applicant of raping a specific person, even though X had known that the
case against him had been dismissed by the prosecutor. In the applicant´s
opinion this was a factual statement about him being a rapist which could
have been proven.
26. The applicant submitted that it had been established that X had
published the picture and the statement, in English, and made them
accessible to over 100 million Instagram subscribers. Consequently, the
picture had been published in the Icelandic media. The picture had given the
impression that the person in the picture (the applicant) was a rapist.
27. The applicant further argued that the conclusion of the Supreme
Court had entailed that the applicant could be called a rapist without having
been charged with or convicted of such a crime, and without being able to