page_title: Risto Ryti
section_title: War-guilt trials
hierarchical_section_title: Risto Ryti / Last stages of career / War-guilt trials
caption_attribution_description: English: Risto Ryti during the war-responsibility trials in Finland, behind him, to the left, is former prime minister Edwin Linkomies and to the right, defender Hjalmar J. Procopé. Svenska: Risto Ryti under Krigsansvarighetsrättegången i Finland, bakom till vänster Edwin Linkomies och till höger försvarsadvokaten Hjalmar J. Procopé. Suomi: Risto Ryti sotasyyllisyysoikeudenkäynnissä, takana vasemmalla entinen pääministeri Edwin Linkomies ja oikealla puolustusasianajaja Hjalmar J. Procope.
context_page_description: Risto Heikki Ryti was the fifth president of Finland, from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the framework of the League of Nations. Ryti served as prime minister during the Winter War and the Interim Peace. Later he served as president during the Continuation War. After the war, Ryti was the main defendant in the Finnish War-responsibility trials.
context_section_description: After Ryti resigned from the presidency, he was reappointed governor of the Bank of Finland. Jukka Rangell stepped aside to clear the way for Ryti. In autumn 1944, he used tough measures, as he had done during the Great Depression ten years earlier, in the nation's monetary policy. The policy was to fight inflation and boost exports. However, in spring 1945 Finnish communists and the Soviet Union demanded he be tried as "responsible for the war". His defence lawyer was the former foreign minister Hjalmar Procopé.
  Ryti was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Along with Ryti, seven other high officials were sentenced to prison, although for shorter terms. The group was convicted using an ex post facto law, which had been instituted for the purpose by the parliament. Although the Finnish constitution prohibited such legislation, the act in question was passed as a constitutional amendment, with a qualified majority in the parliament. Both the court and the parliament faced severe pressure from the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom during the process. Ryti's health failed during his sentence. Most of his stomach had to be removed due to a tumour; in addition, he developed arthritis during his first winter of imprisonment. By 1949, all the other convicts of the war-responsibility trials had been released on parole, while Ryti was hospitalized. He was pardoned by President Juho Kusti Paasikivi that year.
caption: Risto Ryti during the war-responsibility trials in Finland, behind him, to the left, is former prime minister Edwin Linkomies and to the right, defender Hjalmar J. Procopé.
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