Supreme Court decision frees six arrested in China Center sweep

Visas obtained on false pretenses considered legal document

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A ruling by Finland’s Supreme Court on Monday is leading to the release of six of people arrested on allegations that they had organised the fraudulent immigration of dozens of foreigners into Finland.
      One person was released immediately, and five more are to be let out of jail soon.
      The case goes back to a November sweep by police and the Border Guard at the China Center shopping complex. Officials suspected that widespread abuses involving visas and residence permits were taking place there.
     
The Supreme Court ruled that a visa that is acquired on the basis of false information is nevertheless a legal document, allowing the bearer to enter the country.
      The ruling also stated that assisting a person in entering the country in such a manner is also not prohibited by any Finnish legislation.
     
The decision concerned a case of involving travel arrangements for three Russians under the age of 18 who had been granted visas by the Finnish Embassy in Moscow in 2007. The youngsters were supposed to have taken part in a ski camp in Saariselkä, but when they arrived in Finland, they instead travelled to Norway and Germany.
      Two people were charged with organising illegal immigration. One of them had accepted EUR 200 to bring them into Finland, telling officials at the border that they were on their way to the ski camp. This person brought them to Helsinki, where they were handed to the other defendant, who would bring them to a ship that was to take them to Sweden.
     
Organising illegal immigration is defined as bringing, or attempting to bring a foreigner to Finland who lacks the necessary passport, visa, or other travel document. According to the Supreme Court, the visas were effectively legal documents, even though they had been acquired on the basis of false information. Consequently, the defendants had not committed any illegal acts by organising their travel.
      The ruling was in line with previous ones by the Lappeenranta District Court and the Kouvola Court of Appeals.
     
“The view of the Supreme Court is well founded. The principle of legality in criminal law requires that the criminal code should not be interpreted in an expansive manner to the detriment of the accused”, says Sakari Majander, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Helsinki.
      Finland has not changed its legislation in such cases, even though UN documents, for instance, have taken a more severe line on falsifying visas and smuggling immigrants.
      “If there is a need to change the interpretation, it should happen by amending the law”, Majander said, adding that the ruling appeared to contain some criticism toward the way the current legislation was drafted.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Stunned atmosphere at Kouvola China Center after immigration raid (13.11.2009)
  Border Guard and police raid Kouvola’s China Center in immigration sweep (12.11.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat