A world-famous conductor on trial – Appealed to his profession –

Hannu Lintu has admitted that he ordered medicines. JOEL MAISALMI

Conductor Hannu Linnu, 57, has been charged in the Itä-Uusimaa District Court for a drug crime.

Lintu tried to order drugs classified as narcotics from Slovakia to Finland. It was 90 tablets of a medicine called Galenika Xalol Alprazolam, which is used, among other things, to treat insomnia and anxiety.

The order never made it to Linnu, because Customs took over the postal package.

The act took place in November 2023.

The prosecutor demands a 30-40 day fine for the man.

The District Court of Eastern Uusimaa will issue its verdict in the last week of October.

Ilta-Sanomat first reported on the proceedings of the district court.

Your appeal to the profession

The conductor already admitted the act during the preliminary investigation. Now in court, however, he primarily demanded that he be left without being sentenced to punishment.

In his preliminary response, Lintu justified the request with the smallness of the crime. Secondly, he hoped that the fine would be moderated. In his answer, he highlighted how, as an internationally respected musician, he has to travel a lot. It causes severe time difference stress.

According to Linnu, he did not intend to break the law. He ended up ordering medicines from abroad when it became difficult to get the same in Finland.

The conductor told Iltalehte in April that he had used similar sleeping pills in Finland as prescribed by a doctor.

Lintu is a musician and conductor with a long career. He has been the chief conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2013–2021. Currently, he works as the chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.