On Boxing Day, 2015 a 41-year-old Russian man brought five undocumented foreigners into Finland from Russia. In his car were a Syrian man and an Afghan family of four.
The District Court prosecutor says that the Russian man was part of a group organising illegal entry into Finland. He had acquired a car, worked as a guide and interpreter and organised both housing and meals for the migrants.
The man was paid 800 US dollars for his services, and the car acquired from Kantalahti in nearby Russia would have stayed with him as additional payment for bringing in the Syrian individual. The Afghan family had already paid 23,000 USD to the group so they could be transported to Finland – the very group to which prosecutors said the man belonged.
Suspended sentence and fine
The accused has denied all charges, saying that he would have received no monetary gains from transporting the Afghan family. According to the man it was not until they reached the border that he discovered his passengers did not have the proper paperwork. The Russian man demanded that the charges be overturned on humanitarian grounds.
The Lapland District Court found the man guilty of organising illegal immigration. The court found that the man's actions had no humanitarian ends.
The man was given a suspended sentence of three months, because it was his first offence. However, due to the planning involved and the fee paid to the man, he was also charged with 45 day fines, a total of 270 euros. The court calculated that the government lost 2,500 euros in criminal proceeds.
