HELSINKI: Finnish prosecutors on Wednesday called for a maximum four-month suspended prison sentence or a hefty fine for a domestic intelligence chief on trial for allegedly mismanaging informants used by the Helsinki police anti-drug squad.

According to Finland’s public broadcaster Yle, the prosecution accused Robin Lardot, who is now the head of the National Bureau of Investigation, of failing to keep a database of informants between 2010 and 2013 when he worked with the National Police Board.

The informants were used by the Helsinki anti-drug squad, led by Jari Aarnio, who in 2016 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for playing a key role in helping a gang smuggle nearly 800 kilogrammes (1,750 pounds) of hash from the Netherlands into Finland in 2011 and 2012.

Aarnio was dismissed in 2013, ending a 30-year career combatting drugs trafficking, following rep­orts he had interfered in an investigation into the barrels where the hash had been hidden and protected the identities of the smugglers.

The case shocked the public in Finland where corruption, crime and drug abuse rates are relatively low.

A preliminary hearing began on Tuesday at the Helsinki District Court for Lardot and six other current and former police officers, including Aarnio. Each of them have been charged with misconduct, which they deny.

The main trial is scheduled to begin in early September and is expected to last until the end of the year or even continue into 2019, according to Yle.

The court is expected to hear dozens of witnesses and review up to 8,000 pages of a preliminary investigation that lasted nearly five years.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2018