Workers at Helsinki's Hietaniemi Cemetery suspected of grave robberies
Parish Union of Helsinki files request for investigation with criminal
police
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Workers of the Parish Union of Helsinki are suspected of having stolen valuables from the deceased.
The Parish Union has requested that the Helsinki Criminal Police investigate the robberies that may have taken place at Helsinki's Hietaniemi Cemetery.
The four workers who are under suspicion of having carried out the thefts have been suspended from their duties pending the investigation.
According to director Pekka Hietanen from the Parish Union of Helsinki, at this stage of the investigation it is uncertain how extensive the thefts may have been. There is suspicion that the crimes may have continued for several years.
Workers of the graveyard are suspected of having seized valuables buried with the deceased from decades-old graves that have been opened for re-use.
A grave can be re-used when the minimum of twenty years has elapsed from the previous burial.
There are no suspicions of misconduct towards graves less than 20 years old.
According to the Parish Union of Helsinki's instructions, no objects are to be removed from reopened graves. The possible remains of the deceased, the coffin, or other found objects are to be reburied under the new grave.
"Towards the end of last week, suspicions arose that these instructions have been ignored. On Monday we filed a request for investigation with the police, as we felt that our internal enquiries into the matter would only complicate things", explains director of Burial Services Risto Lehto.
According to Lehto, relatives of the diseased have not been aware of the possible thefts. Instead, suspicions of misconduct arose otherwise. The Parish Union of Helsinki has no proof of any of the seized valuables having been sold on.
According to Hietanen, the monetary value of the removed objects is not necessarily great. "However, what has happened has ethical significance. Clear instructions have been ignored and the workers' conduct has violated against Christian human dignity and the peace of the grave. Thefts have been committed, and the trust of the relatives of the deceased has been breached."
The misconduct suspicions are limited to the Hietaniemi Cemetery, and only to graves that have been opened for re-use. In Hietaniemi, around 140 such burials take place every year.
"Quite often such graves contain valuables, such as rings and jewellery, as it used to be a common practice to bury mementoes with the deceased", Hietanen explains.
Some of the reused coffin graves can be very old, as would be the possible objects found in them. Hietaniemi Cemetery is the only coffin graveyard in Helsinki where shovels rather than a machine are still often used when digging graves.
Some of the suspected workers have worked for the Burial Services for a number of years.
According to criminal law, the punishment for disturbing the peace of the grave is usually a fine, or in the most severe case the maximum of one year in prison. For thefts, on the other hand, the punishment scale is more extensive.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.4.2006 - TODAY |
 Workers at Helsinki's Hietaniemi Cemetery suspected of grave robberies
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