The Oulu Taekwondo coach charged with a number of sex crimes is also suspected of having threatened witnesses, the Oulu-based daily Kaleva reveals.
"An investigation is under way to find out if there have been attempts to try to coerce a witness or witnesses. This is a question of provoking the individual or individuals into making a false statement. The suspicion does not include the plaintiffs", crime inspector Seppo Rautava of the National Bureau of Investigation, Finland's central criminal police, explains in the Friday issue of Kaleva.
According to the newspaper, the 33-year-old martial arts teacher has had a DVD video camera in his cell for the purpose of editing some material relating to Taekwondo training sessions, for use in his defence. Instead, he is suspected of having used the camera to film threats.
The hearing of the sexual abuse case began in the Oulu District Court on Monday. The witnesses for the defence will be heard towards the end of the hearing.
The coach stands accused of the sexual abuse of a large number of girls who took Taekwondo lessons from him. The indictment contains 22 counts, and a total of 799 individual acts of molestation. Some of the girls were 14 to 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
