Cases

Mariapori v Finland

Facts

The Applicant was convicted of aggravated defamation following the publication of a book in which the Applicant asserted “[i]n any event, the senior tax inspector [A.] committed perjury fully knowingly and intentionally. But why not as her husband is the public prosecutor [X.]. who works for [name of the office]”. Five thousand copies of the book were printed, of which about a thousand copies had been given away by the end of August 1999. She was sentenced to four months' conditional imprisonment and ordered to pay 5,000 Euros to the tax inspector. On 27 September 2004 the Applicant appealed to the Vaasa Appeal Court, claiming, inter alia, that her rights under Articles 6 and 10 of the Convention had been violated and that the act in question had not constituted aggravated defamation.  On 25 April 2006 the Appeal Court upheld the District Court's judgment by a majority. It found that the interference with the Applicant's right to freedom of expression had been necessary and proportionate. One of the judges did however find that the Applicant should be freed from the obligation to pay compensation as her criticism did not exceed the limits of what was acceptable for civil servants to endure in the exercise in the endure in the exercise of their official duties.

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