Former presidential aide awarded damages over espionage allegations

Nov 8, 2007, 9:08 GMT

Helsinki - A top Finnish diplomat was Thursday awarded damages over being wrongly fingered as a spy for the former East German Ministry of State Security, known as the Stasi.

The Helsinki District Court ruled that Alpo Rusi, a close aide to former president Martti Ahtisaari during most of his presidency 1994 to 2000, should be awarded 70,000 euros (102,000 dollars) for psychological suffering and financial losses.

The court also said the state should pay Rusi's legal fees.

During the trial that ended in August, Rusi demanded damages of 500,000 euros.

Rusi and his elder brother Jukka Rusi, who is now dead, were both suspected of having passed on classified documents to the East German intelligence service from the late 1960s to 1976.

A probe was launched in 2002, but the state prosecutor dropped the case the following year.

In his testimony, Ahtisaari said the head of the security police informed him about suspicions against Rusi in 2002, adding he was surprised over the information.

The Finnish security police have investigated some 20 people over possible ties with Stasi, deputy security police head Petri Knape said during the trial, but only two cases including the Rusi brothers were ever handed over to a prosecutor for assessment.

The security police and the state's lawyer denied any wrongdoing during the trial while Rusi's lawyer said sensitive information was leaked by police.