The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) reported in their Wednesday evening TV news bulletin that at least two Russian diplomats in the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Helsinki are suspected of aggravated pimping. Police believe that the diplomats have provided clients for hundreds of prostitutes as well as offering apartments owned by the Russian Trade Representation for their activities.
The suspected diplomats are said to be minor officials in the Trade Representation. Consequently, Finnish police can neither arrest nor interview them on account of their diplomatic immunity, and they cannot be convicted of a crime in Finland, either.
However, they can face expulsion from the country. Aggravated pimping carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland can expel even diplomats provided they have a good reason for doing so.
Both the Russian Embassy and the Finnish Foreign Ministry have declined to comment on the allegations.
In October the Helsinki District Court ordered the remanding in custody of a 41-year-old Russian woman suspected of aggravated pimping. Police suspected the woman of providing prostitutes with apartments in downtown Helsinki over a period of more than two years. The flats are owned by the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Finland.
Even though neither the diplomats themselves nor other staff of the Trade Representation were suspected then of having taken part in the illegal activities, the Russian Embassy in Helsinki delivered a diplomatic note to the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs with regard to the actions of the Finnish Police.
Previously diplomats have made headlines in Finland for such things as speeding, drink-driving, and selling duty-free alcohol, but never before has anyone been suspected of involvement in the sex trade.
