An official dismissed from the Southeast Finland Police Department has appealed to the administrative court to have the dismissal revoked.
The police inspector was fired in March. He had worked in Kouvola in the field of surveillance and alarm.
The department pleaded a lack of trust in him because of his far-right views.
The dismissed employee questioned the grounds for dismissal. He accused the shooting of privately sent messages.
“A way to relieve stress”
He did not dispute the content of the posts and said they were quoted correctly. However, the former police claimed that they had been taken out of context so that they did not reflect his opinions or perceptions.
The man claimed to have sent messages to his colleague to relieve stress.
He further argued that these were private messages not intended for the public and covered by constitutional protection.
The messages came to the attention of the police department while investigating another police officer suspected of the crime.
In his complaint, the police claimed that they had performed their duties properly.
In his view, the dismissal procedure was disproportionate. He said the messages would have justified at most a written warning.
Revealed during a larger study
The messages came as part of a wider investigation by the Central Criminal Police and the Prosecutor’s Office into the involvement of far-right police.
However, that police was not the subject of a preliminary investigation and is not suspected of a crime.
Ari KarvonenThe head of the Southeast Finland Police Department told Yle that the police have a special duty to behave.
"This is because the police have significant power in Finnish society. The duty to behave also extends when they are away from work," he said.
"A key issue in decision-making is to assess whether the police, as an employer, can be confident that the issues raised will not affect [an employee's] official duties and the decision-making required by them," Karvonen said.
In his complaint to the administrative court, the dismissed police officer said his messages did not match his actions in the performance of his duties or his attitude towards his colleagues or the public.
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Source: The Nordic Page