US Ambassador to Iceland Luis Arreaga has been summoned by that nation’s foreign ministry to answer questions about the Justice Department’s attempt to subpoena secret information from MP Birgitta Jonsdottir’s twitter account.

Icelandic MP Jonsdottir

Jonsdottir is an outspoken free speech supporter and has past ties with WikiLeaks. It is assumed that the efforts to subpoena her account information, as well as that of a number of other people, is related to the Justice Department’s effort to find something with which to charge those affiliated with the site. Iceland’s Interior Ministry said it was concerning that the US was trying to acquire such information about any of its citizens, and “even more serious when put in perspective and concerns freedom of speech.”

Indeed, Jonsdottir says she believes the subpoena is centered chiefly around intimidating her and others associated with WikiLeaks, and it does seem pretty unlikely that the Justice Department will manage to cull enough data from Twitter for a criminal case.

At the same time, the Justice Department apparently attempted to keep the subpoenas secret, ordering Twitter not to inform those users who were targeted. Twitter is believed to have challenged to order, which was unsealed shortly thereafter.