Image: Enja Heikkilä / Yle

The number of individuals who've received compensation for being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned has quadrupled in a decade.

Last year the state compensated such individuals to the tune of about three million euros, compared to some 720,000 euros in 2007. Since 2007 the euro amount of the compensation claims have risen steadily each year, but a major spike in payouts occurred in 2015.

Chief of Legal Affairs at the State Treasury, Pekka Syrjänen says the increase is due to courts handing out longer prison sentences for more serious crimes, resulting in turn in higher compensation claims.

Overturned drug charges typical

Syrjänen says he is unwilling to discuss the specifics of individual compensation cases, but notes that last year's record-breaking sum was mostly caused by claims paid out to just five individuals.

Foreign nationals in particular have been deprived of liberty for longer than others in recent years, he says.

Police may arrest a suspect if he or she has no permanent residence status in Finland, and if they consider it likely that by leaving the country the suspect will avoid a preliminary investigation, trial and sentencing.

Syrjänen points to suspected aggravated drug crimes as typical cases that involve protracted periods of detention.

"Someone from abroad comes to Finland with their car, is stopped by Customs and a large quantity of narcotics in found in the boot," says Syrjänen. Police investigate the case as an aggravated offence and press charges, but a district court may then find insufficient evidence to prosecute. This process generally takes several months, he explains.

100—120 euros per day

According to the law, any loss of liberty that lasts for more than 24 hours automatically warrants compensation.

The basic level of compensation is 100-120 euros per day of imprisonment, but reparation can be increased based on the duration of imprisonment, the seriousness of the charges and the age of the suspect.

Syrjänen says that compensation is most often paid to individuals wrongly imprisoned for less than a week.

He goes on to say that people who receive compensation to cover court costs – "mostly foreigners" – tend to have been unlawfully incarcerated for around six months.

Bigger payouts go public

Cases involving large payouts that appear in the news media are ones in which the daily claims are in the hundreds.

A Brazilian volleyball player who was wrongfully charged with aggravated rape last year received a total of 200,000 euros in compensation, bringing the per diem payment related his year-long stay to some 500 euros.

In 2016 Anneli Auer unsuccessfully filed a claim for damages of 2.5 million euros for her imprisonment over the alleged murder of her husband, a charge on which she was eventually acquitted. She received some 500,000 euros, after having served just over 600 days in prison.

Compensation has been paid to people wrongly convicted and later pardoned since the 1970s.</s>For salaried workers to bring home 1,500 euros per month net on a 12-month basis, or 18,000 euros per year not including holiday bonuses, their employers need to pay 2,610 euros a month or over 31,300 euros a year, given Greece’s particularly high taxes and social security contributions.

For a self-employed professional to pocket the same amount , about 18,000 euros per annum, he or she would have to earn at east 50,000 euros on a yearly basis so as to cover professional expenses, taxes and contributions.

As for new pensioners, a net income of 1,500 euros/month or 18,000 euros/year can only be achieved if they worked without pause for 40 years at an average monthly salary of 2,400 euros over that entire period.

The framework that has emerged in the last three years with tax and contribution hikes, in particular, as well as the new way pensions are being calculated are drastically reducing the chances of any worker or pensioner to have a decent monthly salary or pension.

Official figures already highlight the shrinking of the so-called middle class: From the 8.8 million individual taxpayers who submitted a declaration last year, no more than 450,000 showed a net annual income of 18,000 euros or more, down from 840,000 in 2010.

The shrinking trend of the middle class is expected to continue both for taxation and for practical reasons: An employer will face the same cost hiring five or six part-timers offering a total of 20-24 working hours per day as in hiring one full-timer offering eight hours of work. Particularly in sectors where there is no need for highly skilled workers, such as retail commerce or tourism, the trend to replace well paid positions has already become dominant.

Among the self-employed, overtaxation is this year anticipated to reduce the number of those declaring a taxable income of over 30,000 euros per year. As for pensioners, already the first pensions issues on the basis of the new system of calculation prove that the chances for anyone to secure a benefit of 1,500 euros after retirement are next to zero, and will shrink further in the years to come.</s>* Says it plans to invest around 600 million euros ($714.5 million) in 2018-2021 to raise value of property assets. Further company coverage: ($1 = 0.8397 euros) (Reporting by Madrid Newsroom)</s>Premier League giants Manchester United are looking to offer 90 million euros to sign Lazio star Sergey Milinkovic-Savic, Corriere dello Sport report.The 23-year-old has become one of the best midfielders in the Serie A because of his impressive showings in the last two seasons and that has helped him attract interest from a host of European giants. This season, the Spain born Serbian has scored 11 times in the Serie A, assisting thrice in 33 appearances for the bianconeri. Corriere dello sport understand that Jose Mourinho wants to sign Milinkovic-Savic and could shell out 90 million euros to sign the midfielder.With Michael Carrick retiring and Marouane Fellaini's contract set to run out at the end of the season, Mourinho feels Milinkovic-Savic is the man for the club.Mourinho's links with the players agent- Mateja Kezman are very good as the Serbian played under him during his Chelsea days. Their closeness can play a role in a possible deal.Milinkovic-Savic's performance in the World Cup can increase the player's value, but United will be willing to pay that.Kaustubh Pandey(@Kaus_Pandey17)
Finland says compensation payouts for wrongful convictions and imprisonments have quadrupled in ten years, with three million euros paid in 2017 versus 720,000 euros in 2007.