Prosecutor seeks cuts to legal fees in Auer and Ihlen trial

Finland’s state prosecutor is challenging nearly €430,000 in legal fees awarded to the defence teams of Anneli Auer and Jens Ihlen after their acquittal on all sexual and violent crime charges, Yle reports.

A district court in Southwest Finland ordered the state in April to cover the fees for Auer, her children, and Ihlen following their acquittal. Prosecutor General Ari-Pekka Koivisto announced in May that the state would appeal the cost ruling, arguing that the hourly rates and billed hours for the three defence lawyers were excessive.

Koivisto told Yle the calculations contained “nonsense.” In the appeal, the prosecutor argues that legal fees could form a significant portion of the state’s total costs in the case. Auer has already applied for €1.3 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment after the Supreme Court overturned the original convictions in December 2024, leading to a retrial.

For Auer’s lawyer, Markku Fredman, the court approved roughly €232,000. The prosecutor proposes capping Fredman’s hourly rate at €220 instead of the billed €250, halving the 42 hours claimed for drafting a response to 20, and reducing final statement preparation from 22 to 15 hours. The prosecutor also disputes reimbursement for expert consultations not used in court, time spent assessing the children’s position—arguing they had their own representative—and costs for in-person meetings that could have been held remotely, including a seminar in Turku.

The appeal further questions the hiring of Kaarle Gummerus as Ihlen’s assistant counsel, noting Gummerus does not typically practice in the Turku district court’s jurisdiction. The state was ordered to pay Gummerus about €136,000, but the prosecutor argues travel costs should match those of a local lawyer. The appeal proposes reducing billed preparation time from 447 to 400 hours and capping preliminary response work at 10 hours.

For Hanna Söderlund, who represented Auer’s four children, the court approved about €60,000. The prosecutor contends the children’s lawyer had no need to attend sessions for three months after a September 2025 preparatory hearing and that post-hearing time should not be compensated. The appeal suggests capping preparation at 20 hours per child instead of the approved 50.

Koivisto is also maintaining the demand for Auer to be convicted on three counts of assault against her children.