City|Arhinmäki graffiti
Deputy mayor Paavo Arhinmäki was caught painting illegal graffiti. Criminal law professor Matti Tolvanen assesses what kind of legal sanctions the act may have. Tolvanen estimates the scale of the suspected crime to be small.
Criminal law according to the professor, the deputy mayor Paavo Arhinmäki (left) causing damage and disrupting rail traffic are crimes at the mildest level.
“As a crime, these are minor. What makes this worthy of publicity is the fact that the perpetrator is one who can reasonably be expected to use more careful consideration”, professor of criminal law Matti Tolvanen commented from the University of Eastern Finland.
As a rule, criminal liability for damage is caused by destroying another’s property. In the case of Arhinmäki, there has been no permanent damage to the property because the graffiti was able to be washed away.
According to Tolvanen, the act is also mitigated by the fact that the graffiti was in a place where it practically did not harm anyone.
“Criminal damage is a minor crime, and this is a minor crime as well,” Tolvanen assessed.
“Speeding and other traffic violations are more reprehensible acts because they pose a danger to outsiders.”
Usually no charges will be filed for painting the graffiti because it will be taken to mediation. Going to criminal mediation, however, requires the consent of the person concerned, i.e. the perpetrator, explains Tolvanen.
Usually, the interested party and the person who caused the damage agree that the person who caused the damage will cover the costs of the damage.
“Does the interested party consider it sufficient that the perpetrator of the damage, i.e. Arhinmäki, compensates it? In that case, no punishment is required and the matter remains at that.”
If the matter is settled, the matter will not proceed through the police to the prosecutor.
Arhinmäki painted the graffiti with another person.
Rail traffic Harassment is not a criminal offense, so it cannot be arbitrated. However, the prosecutor may decide not to charge a minor crime.
The police said that freight train traffic had to be stopped for ten minutes on Saturday for security reasons in connection with a suspected crime.
According to Tolvanen, a ten-minute delay in train traffic is mild, after all, such things happen naturally. According to him, it can be assumed that Arhinmäki will not be sentenced for that.
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