A senior official at the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has been detained on suspicion of taking bribes in connection with a human trafficking case.
A detention request for the official, Olli Sorainen, was granted by the District Court of Helsinki after two other people had been detained earlier on suspicion of trafficking in human beings.
Police Chief Inspector Teemu Mäntyniemi, of the National Bureau of Investigation, said the suspicion in the pre-trial investigation was that the bribes had significantly benefited and facilitated official processes related to the operations of a berry-picking business.
Media outlets had earlier reported that Mr Sorainen had a key role in planning measures to combat labour exploitation at his Ministry.
He served as Chair of a Ministry-appointed negotiating committee on preventing exploitation and took part in drafting the Act adopted last year to improve the position of foreign berry pickers in Finland.
While the Act has enabled occupational safety authorities to monitor the working conditions of berry pickers, it has also been criticised for being insufficient.
Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Helsinki, Kimmo Nuotio said it was very unusual for a high-ranking Ministry official to be suspected of bribery and abuse of public office in Finland.
Minister of Employment, Tuula Haatainen said the suspected offences were serious.
“We’ve done a lot of work during the current electoral term to prevent the exploitation of foreign labour,” Ms Haatainen (pictured) said.
“We’ll have to continue that work with even more determination.”
Helsinki, 8 November 2022
