Court acquits former Oulu city manager of misconduct charges

Oulu District Court has acquitted former city manager Päivi Laajala of all charges of official misconduct, Yle reports. The court found that she neither abused her office nor breached her official duties when she dealt with a subordinate’s misconduct by issuing a warning instead of referring the matter to the city board or filing a police report.

The ruling was issued on Monday. The state must pay Laajala’s legal costs of more than 24,000 euros.

The case concerned former director of community affairs Matti Matinheikki, who was convicted in February 2026 of aggravated fraud and aggravated abuse of office. He had obtained a leased car for the city without a proper procurement process and used it privately. He also let his wife use a parking space paid for by the city, and used privately an electric bicycle bought for shared city use.

Laajala was Matinheikki’s supervisor. After receiving information about irregularities in spring 2019, she ordered an internal audit, which confirmed the misconduct. She then assigned the matter to HR director Ville Urponen and employment relations manager Mauri Mikkola, who had legal training. They investigated the extent of Matinheikki’s actions and recommended a warning carrying the threat of dismissal, as well as recovery of the costs. Laajala issued the warning in March 2020.

The prosecutor argued that Matinheikki’s conduct was an obvious official offence and that the law required a prompt police report and a review by the city board. The court said the threshold for a duty to report an offence is high, and that an “obvious official offence” requires a very clear suspicion of a crime. Matinheikki’s later conviction did not prove that, at the time, Laajala should have considered a police report unquestionably necessary.

The court said Laajala had arranged a thorough investigation and relied on experienced HR specialists who did not recommend filing a police report. The city board and the city’s chief legal counsel later also considered the warning sufficient and legally appropriate. The court found no evidence of bias or personal ties between Laajala and Matinheikki, and said her actions showed neither criminal intent nor negligence. The ruling can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.