Appeal court strikes down human smuggling conviction
The Kouvola Court of Appeal has reversed the conviction of a Rwanda-born Russian citizen on charges on human smuggling. A lower court had sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment for organizing illegal immigration. The Appeal Court ruled that the man had not aided illegal immigrants enough to be culpable for their entry into Finland.
According to the prosecution, the Russian man took a fee from hopeful immigrants to arrange travel from the Ivory Coast to Russia and for assisting in the acquisition of visas. However, the opinion of the Appeal Court was that he did not provide extensive aid in facilitating the travellers and left then to fend for themselves. The Africans in question independently made a decision to come to Finland and bought train tickets from Russia to do so.
The court ruled that prosecution evidence was not persuasive enough to warrant the earlier conviction.
Latest in: News
Finnish income gap lower than European average
Income differences in Finland are below the average in Europe, according to Statistics Finland. The gap between richest and poorest is largest in Latvia and Bulgaria and smallest in Norway and Iceland.
Two tumble from Töölö balcony
One man died and another was seriously injured on Wednesday morning when they fell from a fifth-floor balcony in the Töölö district of Helsinki.
Evira: Don’t use datura-laced SOK veggies
The Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira has warned consumers not to use a frozen vegetable product sold by the SOK group that was found to be laced with seeds from the highly toxic datura plant.
Itella chops 180 management jobs
The state mail delivery and logistics company launched retrenchment talks in mid-April with the aim of cutting 350 jobs.
Researcher: Bullying should be nipped in the bud
Research shows that small children don’t have an inherent tendency to bully their peers, but learn the practice from others.
Met man: Monster tornado also possible in Finland
A meteorologist and storm chaser says that the kind of tornado that recently killed dozens of people in Oklahoma in the USA, is also possible in Finland. Finland suffered extensive destruction in a series of massive twisters that struck in 1932.
Workers' tax badge rule sees flood of registrations
In an effort to combat illegal labour practices, Finland’s tax authorities introduced a requirement for workers in the construction industry to register by way of individual tax numbers to be displayed on a badge. Authorities say that thousands of new workers are emerging as a result, with tax badges being assigned to carpenters, security guards and even cooks on the same construction site.
Lottery lands toilet tissue company in the can
Finland’s Consumer Ombudsman has taken the manufacturer of the well-known Lotus brand of toilet tissue to court for aggressive marketing. The company has offered consumers who buy its toilet paper a chance to win a 100,000-euro jackpot prize. However the chances of actually winning are paper-thin: just one in 2.4 billion.
Tax badges may be introduced for cleaners, too
This spring, tax badges became obligatory for builders -- and cleaning staff could be next.
Talvivaara mine stains river orange
The mine has been involved in a string of environmental mishaps -- and PR fiascos -- for more than six months.
