Top Finnish official suspected of treason
The Secretary-General of the Finnish Parliament, Antti Pelttari, is suspected of treason and official misconduct.
His primary suspected crime is the disclosure of a security secret. This means publishing, transmitting, handing over or unlawfully acquiring information that, if disclosed, could cause serious harm to Finland's security or national defence, News.Az reports, citing Finnish media.
Disclosing a security secret is punishable by up to four years in prison. Negligence in such a case can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up two years.
Yle confirmed the information on Friday afternoon after it was reported by the daily Helsingin Sanomat.
Pelttari and the lead investigator, special prosecutor Tarmo Tanner, refused to comment on the information to Helsingin Sanomat.
Tanner told Yle that there is no further information to share at this stage of the investigation, and that he couldn't comment on the criminal charges. The investigation has been going on for about a year.
On Thursday, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) announced at a hastily arranged press conference that Pelttari was under investigation for possible official misconduct in his previous job as director of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo).
He said that Pelttari would be questioned by the Parliamentary Office before any decision on whether to suspend him from his post. That is scheduled to happen on 5 June.
In a post on X, Pelttari said that the suspicion centred on his not intervening in a case involving retired Supo officials who still had access to confidential information about the agency’s activities. He denied being guilty of any crime.
Pelttari was elected as Secretary-General of Parliament in late 2023, and took over at the beginning of 2024.
He had been director of Supo since 2011. Before that, he held senior posts at the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, and served as counsel to Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees.
Pelttari took over the post from Maija-Leena Paavola, the first woman to serve as Secretary-General. Her predecessor, Seppo Tiitinen, was also a longtime Supo director before taking on the parliamentary post.
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