Is there a connection between what happened in July with Pekka Kataja and his attempted murder by the far right and the latest case involving at least one police officer and a group of far-right extremists to carry out a serious crime against the life or health of others?
Expo, the Swedish anti-racism NGO, states that such acts of violence may not be isolated events since raids against far-right groups were recently uncovered in Finland and Spain, and Austria.
On Friday, MTV scooped that Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi) are investigating a plot targeting Green League Minister of Interior Maria Ohisalo and state prosecutor Raija Toiviainen.
The National Bureau of Investigation denied in Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday that the plotters had targeted Ohisalo and Toiviainen. Even so, the ongoing investigation is looking into attacks against an unspecified number of activists.
Heikki Stenius of the National Bureau of Investigation did not comment about the police officer under investigation and if he is now suspended from duty, according to Yle News. He did state that the suspected police officer is not currently in custody.
He added that the threat of a crime taking place “is low.”
Here are some questions that need to be answered to grasp the full scale of the far-right plot in Finland:
- Is there a connection between the plot in Finland with other far-right groups in Europe?
- Is far-right infiltration in the Finnish police a bigger problem than we know or what the police want to admit?
- If, according to the National Bureau of Investigation, Ohisalo and Toiviainen weren’t targeted, who was?
- Is there a connection with the Pekka Kataja case, when two suspected far-right thugs attempted to take his life?
- How long with the police investigation be? Are we talking about weeks or months?
On Friday evening, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin commented on the news of the planned acts of violence on Twitter, saying that there were serious suspicions.