Helsinki Administrative Court has annulled a penalty fine of 10,000 euros imposed on the Helsinki Police Department by the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal of Finland, according to a report by Helsingin Sanomat.
The fine was imposed for ethnic profiling in relation to an incident in July 2016 when the mother and sister of rap artist Musta Barbaari, real name James Nikander, were stopped by police in Helsinki.
Nikander's mother, who was born in Tanzania, and the musician's sister suspected that the police stop was ethnic profiling after a plainclothes police officer asked the women for an identity card during a spot check for illegal immigrants.
The women refused to provide their IDs at the time and in December 2017 they were found guilty of disobeying a public official and refusing to follow police orders, and received day fines.
The women complained to the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal of Finland, claiming they had been victims of ethnic profiling. The tribunal subsequently found in favour of the women and ordered the Helsinki Police Department to pay a fine of 10,000 euros.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, the administrative court voted on the annulment of the police department's fine, with two of the three judges in favour of squashing the fine.
The decision of the administrative court can be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.
