THE MINISTRY of Economic Affairs and Employment on Monday suspended Olli Sorainen, the senior ministerial advisor suspected of accepting bribes in connection with a major human trafficking case, for the duration of the pre-trial investigation.
Sorainen is suspected of aggravated acceptance of bribes and aggravated abuse of public office linked to the human trafficking of berry pickers recruited from Thailand by Polarica in 2020–2022.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment stated in its press release that an official can be suspended from duty for the duration of a criminal investigation and related inquiries that are deemed to impact their ability to perform their duties.
A suspension is a “very exceptional” course of action, Heidi Nummela, the director of human resources and administration at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, stated to Helsingin Sanomat.
“I’ve been the director of human resources and administration for seven years, and not once has anything like this happened during that time. I’ve been with the ministry for 23 years, and I can only recall one or two such cases from that entire time,” she commented.
Nummela said Sorainen’s duties will be distributed among other personnel.
“We’ll now focus on our normal work. There’s a lot of work. Even though the suspicions involve a single person, the case has naturally shaken the entire work community,” she admitted to the newspaper.
Sorainen was detained on suspicion of the offences at the end of October by the District Court of Helsinki. KRP on Friday reported that he has been released from pre-trial investigation but remains suspected of aggravated acceptance of a bribe and aggravated abuse of public office.
Source: http://www.helsinkitimes.fi
