MP Tony Halme´s sentence and fines remain unchanged after Appeals Court hearing

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MP Tony Halme's sentence and fines remain unchanged after Appeals Court hearing


The Helsinki Appeals Court denied MP Tony Halme, 42, (True Finns) the mitigation he had hoped for in appealing the Helsinki District Court ruling from January 2004.
Halme was then given a four-month suspended prison sentence and was ordered to pay fines totalling 80 income-linked "day-fines" - amounting to EUR 4,480 - for criminal offences that were uncovered in connection with a drunken firearms violation episode in the summer of 2003.
Charges brought against Halme included a firearms violation, behaviour likely to cause danger, smuggling, possession of imported goods knowing them to be illegal, and drug use.
The probation period for the suspended sentence ends at the end of June.

Halme demanded in the Appeals Court that the charges of smuggling illegal drugs and of possession of illegal imported goods be dropped, and that the passed suspended prison sentence be reduced to a fine.
Furthermore, the military-issued Parabellum handgun was merely a museum piece received as a gift, which - because of its condition - was not particularly dangerous and had never been used before.
Halme also stated that because of the way the police handled the case, he had to wait for an hour before being admitted to a hospital. This had seriously weakened his health. Also, the publicity of the affair had brought him great shame.
Halme added that his present way of life was impeccable.

In the Appeals Court, Halme's complaints fell on deaf ears. Halme's lawyer Heikki Lampela intends to apply for leave to appeal the case further.
"We would like to hear the Supreme Court's view on the punishability of doping violations and hope the Court would assess whether a fine would be a sufficient punishment", Lampela comments.
Lampela justifies this demand by the resulted serious weakening of Halme's health.

Source: Helsingin sanomat

And more about this story: http://www2.helsinginsanomat.fi/engl...id=20040130IE3