The case dates back to the late 1990s when STT (Finnish News Agency) and an STT reporter were taken to court and found guilty of libel after she wrote a story using unnamed sources about doping within the Finnish Ski Association. However, in 2008 comments by the former skiing coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö reopened the case, since they confirmed the journalists' report.
The current trial is to determine whether members of the Finnish Ski Association and a former skier are guilty of aggravated fraud when they allegedly gave false testimony in the libel case against STT years ago. According to the prosecution, they had lied for financial gain during the 1998 trial of STT news agency journalists.
The testimony that the Finnish Ski Association gave back then is again under heavy scrutiny because of Myllyllä's recent statements that he personally used EPO during that period.
Important witness
According to YLE Sport, Myllyllä testified that he told two defendants in the case, Pekka Vähäsöyrinki and Antti Leppävuori, about his use of the performance-enhancing drug EPO (glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin).
Prosecutor Mikko Jaatinen briefly commented on the days' events and said that it is difficult to say whether or not today's story differs significantly from the testimony Myllylä already gave during a preliminary investigation.
Myllylä is considered an important witness. He is the only skier in the investigation to have admitted using EPO, according to Ilta-Sanomat.
Myllyllä was unable to attend the trial two weeks ago due to illness, according to his lawyer Ari Korhonen. The trial has already been postponed once before because of Myllyllä.
Isometsä was also consulted
The former skier Jari Isometsä also testified today. Isometsä was quietly smuggled into the courtroom through the back door, away from the press.
Isometsä testified that he did not know about other skiers using banned substances.
He also said that he has neither used prohibited substances nor received them.