The Supreme Administrative Court condemns the Helsinki police in the case of ethnic profiling | News
Two civil inspectors stopped the mother and sister of musician Musta Barbaar in Helsinki on suspicion of being prostitutes.
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The Supreme Administrative Court (KHO) decided on Thursday that the Helsinki Police Department discriminated against two women when plainclothes police officers stopped them on suspicion of prostitution.
The case is related to the case in July 2016, when a police patrol stopped the mother and sister of the musician Musta Barbaar – under his real name James Nicander – In Helsinki. According to the police, the stop was related to monitoring street prostitution and was based on the police’s observations and tips.
However, Nikander’s mother, who was born in Tanzania, and sister suspected that the police stop was ethnic profiling. One police officer asked the women for their ID and said they were doing random checks for illegal immigrants.
Both women declined to be identified at the time and were in December 2017 found guilty for disobeying an official and failing to comply with police orders and received income-related daily fines.
The women appealed their case to the Finnish Equality and Equality Court and claimed that they were victims of ethnic profiling. Court later in favor of women and ordered the Helsinki Police Department to pay a fine of 10,000 euros.
In April 2021, the Helsinki Administrative Court overturned the finebut the Supreme Administrative Court has now overturned this decision.
In its ruling on Thursday, the court stated that the police had no grounds to stop the two women and that the decision was based on discriminatory ethnic profiling.
The decision was made with a vote of 4-1.
Finland’s Equality Commissioner Christina Stenman commented on the case in a press release, saying that the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court should lead the police to change their behavior.
“Ethnic profiling is a serious form of discrimination, especially by the police. It is unacceptable that people from ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to being stopped by the police in their everyday lives because of their skin color or perceived ethnic background,” Stenman wrote.
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