President Halonen grants pardons even to minor offenders

Presidential pardons for life prisoners reduced after changes to legislation

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The majority of those prisoners pardoned by President Tarja Halonen in the past two years have been convicted of minor crimes which have brought prison sentences of less than two years. Only one in five parolees have been life prisoners.
      The information is based on the pardon decisions made in the period from 2006 through 2007, examined by Helsingin Sanomat.
      Today, life prisoners appeal directly to the President less and less often, since from 2006 the Helsinki Court of Appeal has also been authorised to grant parole.
     
Over the past two years, President Halonen has granted pardons to a number of shoplifters and drunken drivers or to people whose unpaid fines have been converted into imprisonment. Typically, a pardon is not the same as the overruling of a fixed-term prison sentence, but it means that a prison sentence can be passed as conditional.
      For example, a man resident in the Greater Helsinki area was eligible for parole as he managed to abstain from intoxicants completely. His unconditional prison sentence was converted into community service.
     
In the majority of pardon cases, Halonen reached the same conclusion as the Supreme Court had done. The President cannot grant a pardon to a prisoner without a statement from the Supreme Court. The Ministry of Justice requests statements from the Supreme Court, while the President is entitled to an independent decision on the matter and is not forced to observe the recommendations made by the Supreme Court.
      Incidentally, President Halonen has granted parole to some people who have been convicted of crimes pertaining to the refusal to perform military service or unarmed military service, even though the Supreme Court has given a negative statement on the issue. Only one in five parolees who had refused to perform military service had received a favourable opinion from the Supreme Court.
     
Moreover, two female murder convicts and one woman found guilty of attempted murder were granted parole by Halonen against the recommendation by the Supreme Court.
      Among four other parolees without a recommendation from the Supreme Court was a white-collar criminal whose 2-year prison sentence Halonen converted into conditional imprisonment plus community service. Another man had been sentenced to 30 day-fines, amounting to more than EUR 12,000. The President reduced the exceptionally high amount of fines.
      Two years ago, Halonen granted parole to seven life prisoners, while the corresponding figure for 2007 was just two. The number of life prisoners appealing to the president decreased after the Helsinki Court of Appeal was authorised in the autumn of 2006 to pass convicts from a fixed-term prison sentence to conditional imprisonment.
     
In Finland, a life prison sentence can be passed for murder.
      In 2006, the President also granted parole to two men who had been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 9 and 10 years in prison.
      In total, just a few convicts found guilty of violent crimes were among those pardoned by Halonen, while none of those who had committed sexual offences were among parolees.
      The President does not give reasons for her pardon decisions, which are mainly confidential information. Pardon processes are prepared by the Ministry of Justice, which sends requests for statements to various authorities.
      Reportedly, the reasons included in parole applications list various reasons relating to health or social issues, or to the fact that the convict has already suffered enough - one way or another.
      One of the arguments could be that the convict can prove without doubt that he or she has left behind the criminal lifestyle.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Life prisoner Nikita Fouganthine to be paroled in near future (4.12.2007)

Links:
  The Criminal Sanctions Agency

Helsingin Sanomat