Statistics obfuscate Finnish corruption -Rappe

Statistics fail to reflect the true level of corruption in Finnish society, Jukka Rappe, a state prosecutor, was quoted as saying by regional daily Turun Sanomat on Sunday.

Mr Rappe told the paper that even some bribery cases did not show up in corruption statistics as they were often linked to a broader cluster of offences.

"There is no actual information about the quantity of corruption," Mr Rappe was quoted as saying.

He added that legislation meant to curb the bribery of MPs was so convoluted as to render it inapplicable.

Mr Rappe told Turun Sanomat he had sympathy for questions raised about 2007 general election campaign funding given that political donors tended to remain hidden behind associations acting as middlemen between themselves and the politicians.

Finland's long-standing election campaign funding row has cost the country its top slot in Transparency International's corruption perception index. Finland was ranked fifth in last year's CPI table.