A Helsinki court on Friday (January 27th) sentenced two journalists for revealing classified information about Finnish military intelligence, in a case that raises press freedom concerns.
“We are disappointed with the judgment. Despite reduced sentences, the damage to free speech has already been done“, reacted in a press release Antero Mukka, the editor of their newspaper, the daily reference Helsingin Sanomat. One of the co-authors was fined 50 days, or a few thousand euros, while the other was released from the sentence.
military intelligence
The conviction relates to an article published in December 2017 containing 10-year-old information on Finnish military intelligence operations “which are classified in the interest of Finland’s external security“, explained the court.
The investigative article contained details of “organization, capacities and supplyfrom an army communications center in Jyväskylä, 230 kilometers north of Helsinki.
According to Sanoma Media, the newspaper’s parent company, “there were strong societal reasons for writing this article“. At the time, Finland was preparing a new intelligence law, which aimed to expand intelligence capabilities to monitor data traffic.
This project “limited the fundamental rights of a citizen“, according to Sanoma Media. The court ruled that the disclosure of the information would only have been justified by a reason of public interest in the event of “significant revelation“, as “abuse of power or other illegal activities by authorities“.
“Not harmless” revelation
The court held that this was not the case for this article and that the disclosure of the information could not be considered “harmless“, good that she “does not endanger the external security of Finland“.
Revealing a secret of national interest, which falls within the charge of treason, can lead to up to four years in prison in Finland. Pavol Szalai, European Union director of the press freedom association Reporters Without Borders, described the sentence as “very disturbing“.
When “a country ranked at the top of the World Press Freedom Index” sues journalists for writing “on matters of national security“, this creates “a dangerous precedent for press freedom around the world“, he said.
SEE ALSO – In Russia, “Vladimir Putin has eradicated independent journalism”, according to the Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders