The 28 defendants in an official misconduct trial focusing on municipal decision-makers from Kittilä, Lapland, were suspected of acting unlawfully over the 2014 sacking of then-city manager, Anna Mäkelä.
The Supreme Administrative Court had previously ruled that the sacking had been illegal, but this criminal trial rested on the question of whether the municipal leadership had knowingly acted against the law.
Unless there is a successful appeal by prosecutors the state will now have to pay their costs, which are estimated at around 770,000 euros.
The municipal board’s chair Timo Kurala, who was a key defendant, said afterwards that he was relieved about the verdict.
“The last few years have been difficult, but people have been my support,” said Kurala. “Within the family calm has been preserved, and that’s the most important thing.”
In a high-profile trial the prosecutor had demanded suspended jail terms for the group, and is likely to appeal the verdict.
“It’s quite difficult to believe that this kind of verdict came,” said prosecutor Katri Junnikkala-Heikkinen. “We should read carefully what it says in the verdict and then consider how we proceed after that.”
The court found that Mäkelä’s firing was not revenge, although she and her political bosses did differ in their views.
