Vanhanen-Kuronen court case begins

Prime Minister wants damages from publisher, not former girlfriend

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Helsinki District Court began to hear arguments on Friday in a case involving a book by Susan Ruusunen (formerly Susan Kuronen) on her relationship with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre).
      The prosecution wants the court to impose fines against Ruusunen, along with book publisher Etukeno Oy and its main owner Kari Ojala, for violating Vanhanen's privacy.
      Prosecutor Simo Kolehmainen decided last autumn to press charges over the publication of the book Pääministerin morsian ("The Prime Minister's Bride"), which appeared a year ago. The book includes details about Ruusunen's relationship with Vanhanen.
      Vanhanen is demanding thousands of euros in damages and court costs from the publisher. He did not demand any compensation from Ruusunen.
      The prosecutor in the case wants Ruusunen and Etukeno to forfeit the monetary profit from an illegal act. In Ruusunen's case this means at least EUR 7,000, while the publisher could stand to lose EUR 50,000.
     
In his opening arguments, prosecutor Kolehmainen read excerpts from the parts of Ruusunen's book, which he felt violated Vanhanen's privacy. They included what Vanhanen had told Ruusunen about his feelings, and how Vanhanen behaved in the presence of his children. The prosecutor said that the book is full of such passages.
      Kolehmainen conceded that the content of the book is not libellous, as such, but emphasised that information about Vanhanen's personal life had nevertheless been disseminated in an unlawful manner. Vanhanen had not granted any kind of permission for the publication of information about him, nor had he been asked for his approval.
      According to the charges, Ruusunen's book contains information and innuendo about Vanhanen's family life and behaviour during his free time, his private and confidential communications, as well as his sex life and other intimate events - at times in great detail.
     
The focus of the case is on how much of a politician's private life can be aired in public without the permission of the person involved. It is generally understood that politicians and other powerful figures in society, have a lower expectation of privacy than ordinary citizens do.
      According to the indictment, even though Vanhanen has served as prime minister, making public information on his private life was not necessary from the point of view of debate on socially significant matters.
      The prosecution does not feel that the aspects of Vanhanen's private life have any relevance to his position, or to his socially significant activities. According to the indictment, details of Vanhanen's private life were presented for entertainment purposes, to satisfy public curiosity.
     
Vanhanen's lawyer Petteri Sotamaa says that the issue at hand is a matter of principle for the Prime Minister.
      "General curiosity and voyeurism do not justify the publication of information belonging to private life", Sotamaa said.
      In his view, Vanhanen's basic right to privacy has been violated for the purpose of making money. Sotamaa emphasised that Ruusunen's book does not contain information with any societal relevance.
     
In police questioning before the trial, Susan Ruusunen had said that she trusted that the publisher would know what is fit to publish.
      "From the very beginning I was very concerned that I should not hurt anyone", Ruusunen said, according to the protocol. "I was not aware that this would hurt him. I trusted the publisher as an expert, that nothing like this would happen.
      She added that she had given the publisher text messages that she had received from Vanhanen only after numerous requests. Ojala, for his part, told police that the text messages that were in the book had been placed there at Ruusunen's request.
      Ojala also said that throughout the writing process, the focus was on making sure that nobody is hurt. He said that as Vanhanen did not communicate any disapproval of the book in the media or otherwise, the project continued. Vanhanen was also said to have given his permission for the publication of the picture on the front cover of the book.
     
As for why she wrote the book, Ruusunen said that she wanted to relate the events as they had happened.
      She felt that the information that she made public were not Vanhanen's private affaris; they were matters that were common for both of them - including intimate details of their sex life.
     
As the plaintiff, Vanhanen is not required to be present at the trial. However, he is one of the witnesses, and is scheduled to testify on Friday afternoon.
      The trial is expected to take the whole day. The verdict should come at a later date.
      The trial is being held in public. The judge, Merja Lahti, says that certain items of evidence need to be kept confidential.
      Confidential material includes text messages sent by Vanhanen to Ruusunen, which the publisher decided at the last moment to remove from the book.
     
The court case stems from a request made by Vanhanen to the police after last spring's Parliamentary election, that it investigate whether or not his privacy was violated in the book. The consequences of a possible guilty verdict would probably be a fine. The court can also order the payment of compensatory damages.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Is this the road to self-censorship? (8.10.2007)
  Susan´s book sets off a media feeding-frenzy (7.2.2007)
  Susan speaks out - but not in an exclusive interview (5.12.2006)
  Politics goes entertainment (3.12.2006)

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