High govt official held in Thai berry pickers human trafficking case

The Helsinki District Court on Sunday remanded a high-ranking government official into custody for his alleged involvement in an incident of suspected human trafficking of Thai berry pickers working in Finland in 2020–2022.

According to police and local media, the court remanded Olli Sorainen, a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on suspicion of taking bribes and abusing public office.

With this, so far, three people were remanded into custody in connection with the preliminary investigation into the human trafficking brought against a Finnish berry company, said police in a press release on Sunday.

Sorainen was a member of a working group of the ministry on preventing human trafficking in Finland, reported national broadcaster Yle.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Border Guard and the Helsinki Police Department are investigating into suspected human trafficking incident.

Earlier, on October 1, the Oulu District Court remanded two persons on possible cause of the human trafficking incident.

The suspects are a berry company based in Northern Finland and a Thai company recruiting berry pickers to Finland.

It is suspected that human trafficking has been committed within the activities of the berry company and it is believed that Thai berry pickers who have come to work in Finland as seasonal workers have been deceived, exploited and subjected to forced labour.