New Member of Parliament fined for threatening to kill girlfriend

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The Parliamentary career of Harri Jaskari, former party secretary of the National Coalition Party, got off to an unpleasant start on Monday when he was convicted of making an unlawful threat.
      Jaskari was sentenced to pay 55 income-linked "day fines", totalling EUR 2,200.
      Jaskari denied threatening to kill his Estonian former girlfriend Kai, but the court believed her version of events, and that of her friend, who witnessed the incident.
      All three testified that they had spent an evening in a Tampere restaurant in October 2004. Jaskari and his friend got into an argument, after which he went alone to his apartment at about midnight. The girlfriend and her friend arrived there in the early hours of the morning.
      At this point the stories diverge. Jaskari said that he had been asleep when the women came back.
      He said that Kai entered the upstairs bedroom and resumed the argument. However later she calmed down and the two went to sleep. Jaskari says that no threats were made.
     
The Estonian woman’s version of the events was that Jaskari appeared at the front door "with a crazed look" and began to shout at his girlfriend.
      She said that Jaskari had been jealous, because the women had been driven to the apartment by a man, an acquaintance of Kai’s friend, but Jaskari suspected that there was something going on between Kai and the man.
      The verbal exchange lasted for a while, until Jaskari got his hands on a large kitchen knife.
      "I’ll kill you", Jaskari threatened, and approached her with the knife in his hand. She locked herself into the toilet.
      Kai said that she feared for her life, and the friend said that she was very shocked.
     
The situation calmed down after 20-30 minutes, and Jaskari put the knife away. The next day all three went to a spa along with the man who had offered the late night ride.
      The testimony of the two women were consistent down to certain fine details, and Jaskari’s defence was not able to find contradictions in what they had said.
      Jaskari’s lawyer Markku Sinivaara did not feel that it was credible that the four would have gone to a spa the next day after a confrontation such as the one that was described by the two women.
      The court nevertheless found the woman’s testimony to be credible, and did not feel that there was reasonable doubt about Harri Jaskari’s guilt.
     
After the verdict Jaskari would not say if he would appeal the case.
      "I am so shocked; I know that I haven’t done anything", he said.
      The former girlfriend, meanwhile, declared that justice had been served. Jaskari was ordered to pay her EUR 1,000 in compensatory damages.
      Jaskari had originally been suspected of pimping, three counts of assault, and making three other unlawful threats, but prosecutors did not feel that there was enough evidence to go to trial with.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prosecutor drops most charges against former National Coalition Party secretary (21.12.2007)
  Katainen: Jaskari cannot return as Nat. Coalition Party secretary (22.11.2006)
  Opposition party secretary steps down over criminal investigation (16.10.2006)

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