Finland is to remain on a low terrorist alert despite the recent arrest of two people thought to have been involved in the recruitment and financing of terrorim-related activities.
A woman and a man have been taken into custody. According to intelligence officials, these are the first such arrests involving Finland’s borders.
Although the details of the case and the identity of the suspects have not been made public, Detective Inspector Kaj-Erik Bjorkvist from the National Bureau of Investigation, confirmed that their activities were not related to Finland and involved groups situated a long way from the country.
Paivi Rasanan, the interior minister, has also appeared on Finnish TV 4 to tell people not to be concerned or fearful of the situation. Following the arrests, teams from the Security Intelligence Service searched a number of homes in Helsinki and managed to retrieve “data and other material,” according to Detective Inspector Bjorkvist.
The Helsinki District Court permitted the authorities to detain the suspects for a period of two weeks on 10 September. It is likely that there will be a request for an extension to this period sometime later in the month.
The police in Sweden and Norway have previously made arrests of a similar nature. In 2008 six men were taken into custody on suspicion of being involved in terrorist-related activities in Somalia. However, five were allowed to go free and one was charged and fined for breaking a UN imposed arms embargo.