FM not to be prosecuted over Syria repatriation issue

The Constitutional Law Committee on Wednesday said Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto should not be prosecuted over his dealing with the repatriation process of Finish nationals from the al-Hol Camp in northern Syria.

Although the committee observed that Haavisto broke the law, it did not find any basis to prosecute him.

The committee, however, found that the foreign minister had acted in contravention of the Administration Law and the Foreign Relations Act.

Haavisto welcomed the committee’s decision after the year-long process, launched in December last year, following a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition parties.

Talking to the reporters at a video conference in the evening, Haavisto said he felt a "sense of relief" after the Constitutional Law Committee acquitted him.

He also expressed optimism to continue the process for helping Finnish children detained at al-Hol by his ministry, adding that 15 children have already been repatriated.

Earlier, in February this year, parliament’s Constitutional Law Committee asked the state prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into the way Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto had treated one ministry official over Syria repatriations.

The matter was initiated late last year with a complaint signed by opposition members of parliament.

Last year, Haavisto had been promoting the repatriation of Finnish nationals from the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria. Initially, he put foreign ministry’s Consular Services Director-General Pasi Tuominen in charge of the administrative preparations.

Tuominen objected to this decision, arguing that Haavisto could not attribute political responsibility for a life-and-death situation to a single official.

Haavisto then shifted the assignment to another civil servant and allegedly launched preparations to transfer Tuominen to other duties.

Although Tuominen was not transferred at the end, Haavisto has been widely criticised in public for the way he had treated the ministry official.

The results of the investigation were submitted to Constitutional Law Committee Chair Johanna Ojala-Niemelä.