PROSECUTORS in December announced they have opted not to bring a rape charge against Wille Rydman, a second-term Member of the Finnish Parliament, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
The prosecutors noted in their partially classified ruling that the accounts of the defendant and plaintiff were in complete contrast to one another. While they both recounted the events in a consistent and detailed fashion, the account of the plaintiff had “material inconsistencies” when compared against her diary entries, messaging and remarks at an unspecified meeting earlier this year.
Rydman’s account was also corroborated by written witness statements attached to the findings of the pre-trial investigation. As the investigation provided no external evidence of what had transpired in the private residence where the crime had allegedly taken place, the prosecutors ruled that there is no probable cause to substantiate the rape allegation.
The 36-year-old lawmaker had denied the allegation throughout the pre-trial investigation carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP). The rape had allegedly taken place in the summer of 2015.
The investigation was opened following the publication of an in-depth article by Helsingin Sanomat in June. Rydman was accused in the article of improper conduct by several women.
KRP had looked into claims about him a couple of years earlier, but it concluded in roughly a week that the findings did not warrant a pre-trial investigation. Last summer, however, it summoned a number of women for interviews and opened the pre-trial investigation, citing new information.
At Rydman’s request, Helsinki Police Department has opened a pre-trial investigation into Helsingin Sanomat.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
