MP Petri Salo surprised at bribery charges

Petri Salo

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National Coalition Party MP Petri Salo says that he was surprised to learn that a prosecutor is pressing charges of bribery against him in order to establish a precedent.
      The leading prosecutor of Ostrobothnia District Court is charging Salo with attempting to bribe an official, because he proposed to a police officer who had pulled him over for speeding that the two should have a cup of coffee.
      According to the newspaper Kaleva, prosecutor Peter Levin said that bribery charges were raised in order to establish a precedent on what crosses the line for bribery. The prosecution is calling for a suspended prison sentence in the case.
     
Salo, who was reached by the Finnish News Agency STT, said that he does not want to interfere with the activities of a prosecutor, but he finds the idea of seeking a precedent to be somewhat strange.
      “It isn’t easy to be a mannequin for the prosecution service. Probably this way, seeking a precedent will attract much attention”, Salo said on Monday.
     
According to Kaleva, Salo asked the officer to join him for coffee while both were sitting in the back seat of a police car after Salo had been stopped for speeding.
      “I proposed to the constable, and former colleague, that I could buy him coffee. The prosecutor then saw this as an attempt to influence an official”, Salo said to the newspaper.
     
Salo was stopped on suspicion of exceeding the speed limit on the highway between Ylihärmä and Vöyri in Western Finland in May.
      He was clocked at driving at a speed of 138km/hour in an area where the limit is 80km/h. Salo himself estimated that his speed was between 80 and 100km/h.
      The case will go to court in September 10th.
      Salo, a resident of Alahärmä, is a senior police constable by profession. He was first elected to Parliament in 1999.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ilkka: National Coalition Party MP facing attempted bribery charges over speeding case (6.8.2010)

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