Court of Appeals to continue proceedings against Kari Uoti

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The Turku Court of Appeals rejected on Tuesday the demand by Finnish businessman Dr. Kari Uoti that the proceedings against him be interrupted immediately.
      Following a recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Uoti insisted last week that all charges against him in a trial on white-collar crimes at the Turku Court of Appeals must be dropped and the case dismissed.
      According to the ECHR, the legal proceedings against Uoti at the Salo District Court, which began in 1994, took unreasonably long, and the state of Finland violated Uoti's human rights.
     
In its decision the Court of Appeals admitted that the handling of the charges is "significant for Kari Uoti". However, Uoti's demand was rejected.
      Kari Uoti instantly filed an appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court, demanding urgent handling.
     
Both Prosecutor Anna-Riitta Rinkinen and the asset management company Arsenal-SSP opposed Uoti's call to dismiss the case. They also said that the compensation can be determined only after the trial.
     
The trial in Turku is linked with court cases emerging from the demise of the Lounais-Suomen Säästöpankki savings bank, and the bank's credit arrangements and fund transfers from 1991 to 1992. The losses amounted to millions of euros.
      The charges at the district court involved an extensive series of economic crimes including aggravated fraud, aggravated tax fraud, and dishonesty as a debtor. Part of the charges were dismissed.
     
In its interim decision the Court of Appeals listed a large number of reasons for the delay in the legal proceedings against Uoti.
      The court also gave its assurance that "the decision to continue the proceedings does not mean that the court is biased against Uoti".
      Uoti himself has another interpretation of the decision, and he intends to file a new complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), arguing that for the first time a member-state of the European Union has not complied with the decision of the ECHR.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Businessman Kari Uoti gets prison sentence after ten years of court hearing (22.3.2006)
  Kari Uoti demands dismissal of trial following ECHR ruling (10.1.2007)

Links:
  Supreme Court
  ECHR ruling from November 2006

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