Jere Karalahti is imprisoned in a barren place

Ex-hockey player Jere Karalahti is currently sitting in Vantaa prison. Karalahti has been imprisoned for the most probable reasons, suspected of a serious drug crime.

In this story, Iltalehti tells what it’s like to be in pretrial detention and what kind of place the Vantaa prison, which has received criticism, is like.

Team leader of the security unit of the operational responsibility area of ​​the Criminal Sanctions Office Kalle Virtanen tells about pretrial detention at a general level.

– First, we will come to whether the prisoner has contact restrictions ordered by the court, in accordance with the Coercive Measures Act. It defines a lot of the prisoner’s communication and activity possibilities, says Virtanen.

If the prisoner has contact restrictions, he may only be allowed to contact his lawyer and the embassy. Otherwise, the remand prisoner is allowed to send and receive letters, make phone calls and meet his loved ones under supervision.

Virtanen is talking about pretrial detention in general, and not only about Vantaa prison.

– The opportunity to see loved ones is at least every two weeks, if the prisoner does not have contact restrictions. Meetings are supervised. There is a separate permit process for unsupervised meetings.

All remand prisoners can go outside, use the library and shop in the canteen every day. Sports services are different in different prisons.

– In general, all prisons have fitness and sports halls and outdoor playgrounds, says Virtanen.

Prisoners have the right to information. There will be newspapers in the prisons, and there is also the possibility to use a television. In some establishments you can get the TV yourself, in others it is already ready.

– Gaming machines without internet are a common pastime. Board games have been organized in prisons.

Prisons also organize various work activities and rehabilitation activities. For example, it can be about group activities, discussions or substance abuse rehabilitation.

That’s what a prison is like

Vantaa prison is the largest in Finland. The barren place is packed to the brim.

Iltalehti reported in September that there are 205 official prison places in Vantaa remand prison, but the daily number of prisoners is still around 300.

– This is a serious problem, Deputy Director of Vantaa Prison Joel Kalpio said in the story.

For years, there have been more prisoners in Vantaa than there are places. Over already reported in 2014 that prisoners were housed on sauna rafts.

Kalpio told IL that each prisoner has his own cell or a cell with another prisoner. In extreme cases, prisoners had to be accommodated on the floor of the temporary waiting area.

The deputy ombudsman of the Parliament stated in his inspection report last year that there were serious deficiencies in the prison in Vantaa. The biggest concern was the lack of personnel.

The report mentioned that due to staffing shortages, the prison often had to resort to lock-up facilities. At that time, the prisoners are locked in their own cells and only statutory outdoor activities and food distributions are arranged for them.

In lock-up, a prisoner can be locked in his cell for up to 23 hours a day. Constant confinement places a strain on prisoners’ nerves, which in turn increases the threat of disturbances and violence.

Murder in a cell

A cell murder took place in Vantaa prison in early 2022. In April 2023, the District Court of Eastern Uusimaa sentenced two men to life imprisonment for murder.

According to the court, in January 2022, the men subjected their victim to prolonged and diverse violence in the traveling cell of Vantaa prison. They also committed gross rape of their victim.

In addition to the murder case, the Central Criminal Police has investigated the operation of the prison during the murder.

In January 2025, it was reported that the Criminal Sanctions Authority suspended three Vantaa prison officials from their posts, and the head of the unit and deputy director were transferred to other positions.

Aarnio in the same place

The former head of the drug police, convicted of drug crimes, also sat in Vantaa prison at one time Jari Aarnio. He was a remand prisoner in Vantaa for years and described the milieu Mika Lahtonen and Mia Jussinniemen in the edited work Jari Aarnio’s prison diaries (Pressmen).

The investigation and being in isolation were both tiring and low-spirited. Aarnio was several times in the hospital ward of Vantaa prison.

– What was special about the hospital ward was that you had to go outside in a small cage on the roof of the prison. Those things got much worse. On the other hand, you could see at least a little of the outside world from there. Saw, for example, cars moving on the old Lahdentie. Even the moving cars cheered me up, Aarnio said in the book.

According to Aarnio, breakfast, lunch and dinner are eaten in prison. On weekends, the prison only offers breakfast and dinner, with a small evening snack.

The ex-policeman was in solitary confinement in prison, so a guard visited his door with a food cart three times a day.

– The selection of canteens was quite limited. Candy, chips, chocolate… Everything unhealthy.

According to Aarnio, who was taken to a closed ward in 2014, the prison had a rowing machine, a library and a sauna. You could go outside every day. A barber also visited the prison from time to time.

He described the ventilation in the cells as “non-existent”. According to him, it was so hot in the summer that the prisoners walked around in their breeches.

Couldn’t get free

Aarnio’s second lawyer was Mikko Ruuttunenwho now also represents Jere Karalahti. The ex-hockey player was imprisoned on October 2nd on probable cause, suspected of a serious drug crime.

Karalahti denies his guilt.

The issue of Karalahti’s imprisonment was discussed again on Thursday 16.10. in the district court of Helsinki. The court did not agree to release Karalahti.

On Thursday, Ruuttunen did not know or give an answer as to whether Karalahti will request a retrial again in two weeks. The deadline for indicting the ex-hockey player is January 15, 2026.