Triple-murderer Nikita Fouganthine released on parole

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After serving 20 years behind bars, life prisoner Nikita Joakim Fouganthine was paroled on Monday, following a decision made by the Supreme Court in December 2008.
      Finland’s longest-serving life prisoner Fouganthine, formerly known as Juha Valjakkala, served a life sentence after killing a family of three in Åmsele, Sweden, in 1988.
      The Appeal Court reached a decision in December 2007 to allow Fouganthine to seek parole, and this was supposed to come into effect from July of last year, but the ruling was then withdrawn a month or so before the due date.
      In the spring of 2008 Fouganthine had breached the conditions of a supervised trial release by going AWOL for a couple of days, during which time he also committed certain traffic offences.
     
The granted parole is subject to a three-year probationary period, which means that the parolee will be supervised by the Probation Service for another thirty-six months.
      Under his probation period, Fouganthine is obliged to be in contact with his supervisor and to meet the officer on a regular basis.
     
Fouganthine will be allowed to travel at least in Finland, but he is to give his supervisor necessary contact information in accordance with the supervision plan.
      In general, contact is made more frequently at the beginning of the supervision, while later on the number of appointments may be gradually reduced.
      In case of a violation of the obligations, the court may give the parolee a warning or order 4 to 14 days of the remaining sentence to be enforced.
     
Juha Veikko Valjakkala (b.1965) was convicted of the murder of a family of three at a cemetery in the northern Swedish community of Åmsele in 1988. Valjakkala was given a life sentence on three counts of murder, and after serving part of his time in Umeå, he was transferred to Finland in 1989 to serve out the rest of his sentence.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Supreme Court ruling means Nikita Fouganthine could get parole in February 2009 (17.12.2008)
  Life prisoner Nikita Fouganthine to be paroled in near future (4.12.2007)

Links:
  Probation Service
  Nikita Fouganthine, formerly Juha Valjakkala (Wikipedia)

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