Ex Finnish PM found not guilty

Jaatteenmaki plans to stand for European elections this year

A former Finnish prime minister has been acquitted of charges of illegally obtaining secret documents on the Iraq war while she was opposition leader.

But a former aide who gave Anneli Jaatteenmaki the papers was found to have breached the official secrets act.

The ex-presidential aide, Martti Manninen, was fined 80 days' salary.

Ms Jaatteenmaki, who was elected last year, had to step down after only two months as Finland's first female prime minister when the allegations emerged.

The court said in its verdict that there was no evidence to show that Ms Jaatteenmaki would have "incited Mr Manninen's crime".

I am relieved... I hope this verdict is the end of a long period of suffering Ex-PM Anneli Jaatteenmaki

"Just asking for interesting material is not enough to constitute an incitement to handing the material over," it said.

"And there is no evidence that Ms Jaatteenmaki has put pressure on Mr Manninen (to get the documents.)"

The scandal, dubbed "Iraq-gate" by the Finnish media, and the ensuing trial sparked huge public interest in Finland - a country not used to scandals at government level, correspondents say.

During campaigning for last March's general elections, Ms Jaatteenmaki had accused the then-prime minister, Paavo Lipponen, of undermining Finnish neutrality by promising the US President, George W Bush to support the Iraq war.

This information is widely believed to have secured her Centre Party a narrow win against Mr Lipponen's Social Democrats.

She became Finland's first female prime minister in April 2003, but resigned two months later when she was accused of lying to parliament about the incident.

Conflicting claims

In court, she and the presidential aide who faxed her the documents gave conflicting evidence.

Ms Jaatteenmaki said she had never asked to see the documents, which detailed talks between Mr Lipponen and Mr Bush.

Mr Manninen maintained she did ask to see them.

Under Finnish law, both defendants could have faced a maximum of two-year prison sentences each, but prosecutors had asked for fines only.

Ms Jaatteenmaki was in Strasbourg, where she is campaigning for a seat in the European Parliament for June elections, when the verdict was announced.

"I am relieved by the district court's decision," she said in a statement.

"I hope this verdict is the end of a long period of suffering."