Veijo Balzari's suspected crimes took place between 2004 and 2019. The Helsinki District Court previously dismissed the charges because, according to it, there was insufficient evidence.
elsing the cultural adviser-author started the main hearing at the court of appeals on Tuesday Veijo Baltzarin, 81, on human trafficking and sexual crime charges. A preparatory session was organized in the case in November, when the prosecutor said that he demanded a prison sentence of at least ten years for Baltzar.
In February 2022, the District Court dismissed all charges in the case. Baltzar continues to deny all charges.
Special Prosecutor Mikko Sipilä told STT before the start of the main hearing that the main arguments and demands of the prosecutor have remained unchanged.
“Cult-like conditions that violate human dignity have been created. Even if something is acceptable in the theater about the director's behavior, when it is taken home, the situation is different. They have been both sexually abused and forced to work.”
There are seven interested parties in the case, i.e. victims, who were between 15 and 36 years old at the time of the suspected crimes. The alleged crimes were committed from 2004 to 2019.
According to the prosecutor, Baltzar had lured girls and young women to live with him and controlled their lives. The prosecutor says that Baltzar took advantage of the dependent position and insecure condition of the stakeholders and took control of them. Baltzar is also accused of several rapes.
Sipilan according to which the district court that dismissed the indictments failed to evaluate the acts mentioned in the indictment as a whole.
“In such a case, the abundant evidence should be evaluated as a whole and not as individual small pieces. It has largely gone into the woods.”
Baltzar's lawyer Jussi Sarvikivi says that, according to the defense, the district court's decision was carefully justified and correct. According to the defense, the action was about a close-knit theater and cultural community. Some of the people have lived in the same apartments as Baltzari in a commune-like manner, says Sarvikivi.
“It hasn't been about a cult any more than a sect.”
The Court of Appeal announced in advance that the main hearing will be held behind closed doors. The trial documents are mostly encrypted as well.
District court held that the alleged crimes were not shown. The district court held that Baltzari could not be considered to have taken control over the owners solely on the basis that they lived with him. According to the court, it was also not shown that Baltzar had subjugated the interested parties. The court considered that these were not dependent on Baltzar, as the prosecutor claimed.
According to the district court, the owners had cleaned and renovated the apartments they lived in, or renovated the cottages Baltzar had bought. They had also worked in Baltzar's associations and participated in theater productions. According to the court, some of the people involved had helped Baltzar by massaging him and cutting his nails.
In the case of rape charges, the main evidence was the stories of the victims. According to the district court, there was not enough other evidence to support them or facts that otherwise support the reliability of the report.
#Lawsuits #long #sentence #required #Veijo #Baltzar #human #trafficking #sex #crimes
