European Court of Human Rights overturns Finland’s conviction for allegedly murdered Iraqi

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld Finland’s appeal in a highly convoluted Iraqi refugee case. In 2019, the ECHR issued an indictment against the Finnish authorities for the fact that they deported a refugee to Iraq, who was later killed in his homeland. The state had to pay 20 thousand euros to the man’s sister, who lives in Finland.

In 2020, however, it turned out that the story of the Iraqi was a hoax. His daughter and ex-son-in-law invented the story of the death of a man in order to mislead the Finnish authorities.

Then Finland demanded that the ECHR reconsider the decision in this case. The awarded compensation had not yet been paid before the start of the investigation into the relatives of the Iraqi.

The ECHR acknowledged that the applicant had knowingly deceived the court and, for this reason, overturned the 2019 judgment. The opinion of all the judges was unanimous.

In Finland, however, the trial continues against the daughter and former son-in-law of the Iraqi. In February of this year, the county court sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of just under 2 years, but they appealed this decision to a court court.