On Friday, the Helsinki District Court sentenced five Estonian men to prison terms in a case relating to the smuggling of Afghan asylum-seekers.
Two of the men received jail sentences for aggravated expediting of illegal entry. Renad Jakobson, aged 35, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. Another suspect received a 16-month jail sentence.
The other three Estonians received 4- to 8-month suspended prison terms for the organising of illegal entry into Finland.
Even the sixth man was found guilty of expediting illegal entry, but the court did not impose any punishment on him.
The convictions are related to three smuggling cases uncovered at the end of last year, involving the illegal entry of 18 Afghans into Finland. The suspects were detained in Helsinki.
The police believe that the convicted Estonians are affiliated with an organised international criminal gang that is suspected of having smuggled a large number of Afghans from Russia to Finland via the Baltic States last year.
In order to get to Finland, the smuggled refugees paid several thousands of euros to the organisers of illegal immigration in Moscow. Upon arrival in Finland they applied for asylum.
The documents relating to last Friday’s convictions were ordered to be kept secret, as they are part of a larger case into which investigations have not yet been completed.
According to DI Jari Koski, the officer in charge of the investigation, no further detentions have taken place so far.
