3 held in Uganda for alleged killing of Patria consultant

Three people have been charged in Uganda for the death of a Finnish businessman in Kampala in early February, the Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported on Friday.

The accused had allegedly taken drugs to the man's hotel room, and the substances were reported to be heroine, cocaine and two sorts of pesticide. Charged manslaughter, the three were in detention in Uganda.

Two other persons were charged on falsifying a document. They had allegedly created a fake invitation to the man supposedly from the head of the Ugandan internal security service, but it was not.

Finnish officials told Yle they would not comment on the reports as the information responsibility is in Uganda. Yle published pictures of the documents of the charges.

The death of the Finn made news in Finland as sales leaflets introducing Finnish arms manufacturer Patria were found in his room.

Patria admitted the man's authorization to represent Patria had not been properly cleared. Patria has insisted it has no marketing plans for Uganda.

Earlier, Two top ranking executives of the state-owned defence arms factory Patria resigned on February 16 following the death of a Finn, reportedly a consultant of the company in Uganda.

Mika Kari, President of the Land Business Unit and Juha Simola, Senior Vice President of Patria’s Land Business Unit of Patria left the company.

The Finnish consultant, who reportedly went to Uganda to market the products of Patria was found dead in Kampala in early February. The body was found in a hotel room.

Following the incident Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintilä, who is responsible for state ownership steering, has asked a report from Patria in this regard.

He also said that the Patria had suffered "a loss in its reputation" after a businessman of the company was found dead in the East African country.