Finnish court upholds terrorism convictions of far-right men in historic ruling

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has upheld the first ruling in Finnish criminal history, convicting far-right men of terrorism-related offenses. The court found no grounds to alter the decision issued by the district court last October.

Two men appealed their sentences to the appellate court. One man, born in 1996, received a sentence for serious firearms offenses for terrorist purposes, along with charges including preparing to commit a terrorism-related crime and five other offenses. He was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. The defendant requested a reduction in his sentence and argued for it to be converted to a suspended sentence, claiming the punishment was excessive and that his actions resulted in minimal harm to others.

The other man, sentenced to over three years, did not appeal and accepted the district court’s ruling.

The district court also sentenced a man born in 1957 to one year and two months for two firearms offenses, without terrorism-related charges. However, the Court of Appeal agreed with the district court that this man was aware of the ideologies and criminal intents of two younger men convicted of terrorism offenses, and he had encouraged them.

According to the ruling, the 65-year-old portrayed himself as a “rebel general” in messaging discussions, inciting younger individuals to employ more violence in a planned attack to garner attention, disregarding potential casualties. The appellate court noted that he showed no signs of remorse or intent to abandon his ideology. As a result, the court concluded that there was no reason to alter the punishment handed down by the district court.