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Home NATIONALAarnio jailed for 3 years in Trevoc case
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Sat, 01 Oct, 2016 12:03:49 AM
FTimes-Xinhua-STT Report, Oct 1
The former Chief of the Helsinki Drug police unit in the court diring the trial on February 26, 2016. File Photo – Lehtikuva.
The Helsinki Court of Appeal on Friday has sentenced the former Chief of Helsinki drug unit police, Jari Aarnio to three years imprisonment in the Trevoc case.
 
Aarnio has been convicted of aggravated fraud, aggravated bribe-taking and aggravated dereliction of duty.
 
In June 2015, Helsinki District Court sentenced Aarnio to one year and eight months on the same charges.
 
Because of appeals made by both the public prosecutor and Aarnio, the Helsinki Court of Appeal reconsidered the case.
 
Aarnio's prison term has been increased, as his offences was exceptional severe, very harmful and particularly well planned, according to the court of appeal.
 
The conviction is related to Aarnio's role in Trevoc company, which sold monitoring devices to law enforcement agencies in Finland.
 
Aanio was alleged of taking bribes from Trevoc, as he had received a stake in the company and used the position for his own financial benefits.
 
 He was also suspected of abuse of an official position, as he acted obstructively in Helsinki police's procurement and attempted to influence the police department to acquire products from Trevoc.
 
In addition to Aarnio, Pasi Patama, managing director of Trevoc, and Jouni Viitanen, retired officer from the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, have also been handed harsher convictions by the court of appeal.
 
The Appellate Court accepted all of the prosecutor's requirements for punishments. The court also ordered Aarnio stripped of his military position and rank.
 
"The Appellate Court came to send the clear message that [their] judgments are a lot tougher than those handed out in the District Court," State Prosecutor Mikko Männikkö told news agency STT after the verdict.
 
Aarnio's lawyer Riitta Leppiniemi said that Aarnio still has not seen the verdict even though he has heard the judgment and reasoning.
 
Leppiniemi said that they are considering lodging an appeal to the Supreme Court.
 
According to national broadcaster Yle, Aarnio could face 11 years of an additional imprisonment, due to eight drug-related charges against him. The judgment of the case will be made in early November this year.
 
 Aarnio has been under investigation for accepting bribes since November 2013. The investigation then broadened to cover possible drug shipments and suspected involvement in organized crime in December 2013. 
 
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