Prosecutors, tax officials and one of the plaintiffs have appealed the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Two years ago, the Mustasaari District Court in Western Finland sentenced three local men to terms of imprisonment in a case of smuggling snus and tax evasion. They were also ordered to pay millions in compensation to the state.
The Court of Appeal overturned the ruling on payment of compensation, stating that illegal substances could not be taxed. In addition, the court halved the prison sentence imposed on the primary defendant in the case to a suspended sentence of about one year.
The Supreme Court will decide over the next few months whether to consider the case. The court usually only considers precedent-setting cases.
Snus was banned across the EU in 1992. However, Sweden was exempted from the ban. The substance can be freely purchased on some vessels operating ferry services between Sweden and Finland.