Tony Halme.

[arnisador]

Tony Halme of the UFC, a.k.a. Ludvig Borga of the WWE, has been elected to the Finnish parliament, according to the current issue of Black Belt (July 2003).

[arnisador]

I wonder if he remains active in MMA or wrestling?

Yes, he was elected with a huge amount of votes. He's been quite a controversial figure in the Finnish political scene.

Last week he partied with very much booze, accidentally fired an illegal gun in his apartment (luckily didn't hit anything), and passed out. His wife called for help. First the police came, then the paramedics who found Halme lying in a critical condition. Police also found illegal doping substances in the apartment. Halme has been in such a bad condition for the week that the police are still unable to question him. He will probably be charged with posession of illegal weapon, causing danger by firing it carelessly and for possession of illegal substances. But we'll have to wait and see when he wakes up.

He will probably not be active fighter any more. He already announced that the last boxing fight he fought here would be his last. He fought the last boxing match for charity, all the money he earned from it was given to the Finnish war veterans who are having hard time today in spite of the government's promises long ago to make sure no-one who fought in the war would "ever need anything". After the war, the whole promise sorta slipped out of the government's collective mind. One of Halme's biggest political campaigns have been making veteran's lives better here - to make the government remember it's promise.

[arnisador]

It sounds like he's still in serious condition then? He's still at the hospital?

Yes. Police still have not received the green light to go guestion him.

Finally, after weeks of being kept asleep and now after about a week of phys. rehab, Tony Halme has recovered enough that the police were able to visit him (they won't interrogate him yet) and he gave an interview to a paper. He seems to be okay, but has lost a few dozen pounds and is still in rehab.

[arnisador]

Well, sounds like encouraging news thus far!

Tony lost about 40 pounds while in the hospital and rehab, but is now okay. He intends to continue as a politician, though many people don't think that is okay. He will face several charges soon.

[arnisador]

Thanks for the update!

Tony is back to work and is getting better (healthwise) all the time. Even though his boxing days may be over, the fighting continues. Now he is fighting in the courthouse. His case is so high profile that it was the first court hearing ever sent live on the finnish tv. He will probably get a fine, and quite likely a probational sentence too. Prior to the court he said that if he goes to jail, he will quit from the parliament. Now that the prosecutor only presses for probational sentence, it is up to the parliament to decide if they want to have Halme with them or not. But the court fighting is still in progress so we'll have to wait a while longer.

[arnisador]

Thanks for the update!

Tony got 4 months probational sentence and a fine. He continues his work in the parliament.

[arnisador]

Heh. No different from here--Congressmembers are part of the criminal class!

Yeah, here in Finland you can be kicked out of the parliament if you go to jail, but as the sentence was probational, this doesn't happen (unless some higher court stage changes the sentence).

Update. Tony continues the parliament work. He swore that he'll lay off alcohol and drugs, but has admitted that he slipped once with alcohol. He is talking about possibly running for president in the future. Has gained some of his muscles and size back. Usually doesn't seem to act so tough anymore in public. All the boasting and egoing seems to have vanished and he acts kind of cool and composed. Maybe he has learned something, or maybe he's now making his public exposures sober?