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🇫🇮 Finland /Culture & Society

HS Viestikoekeskus Case Reaches European Court of Human Rights

From Helsingin Sanomat · () Finnish

Translated from Finnish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Helsingin Sanomat has taken its Viestikoekeskus (Signals Intelligence Center) reporting case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
  • The appeal, filed in April, concerns the conviction of two journalists for revealing and attempting to reveal state secrets related to the center.
  • The newspaper argues that journalists should not be convicted for publishing information that was never released, a point it hopes the ECHR will consider.

Helsingin Sanomat, a prominent Finnish newspaper, has escalated its Viestikoekeskus reporting case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The appeal, lodged in April, challenges the convictions of two of its journalists for revealing and attempting to reveal state secrets. The case centers on an article published in December 2017 that detailed the Finnish Defense Forces' Signals Intelligence Center and military intelligence operations.

It either asks the Finnish state for a response and possible counter-explanations from us, or it doesn't, in which case the proceedings end.

— Kai KotirantaKai Kotiranta, a lawyer representing Helsingin Sanomat and one of the convicted journalists, explains the potential outcomes of the ECHR's review of the case.

In July of last year, the Court of Appeal handed down sentences to the journalists. Tuomo Pietiläinen received a four-month suspended prison sentence, while Laura Halminen was fined 80 days' worth of income. These convictions were for revealing and attempting to reveal security secrets. The appellate court's decision notably increased the severity of the initial district court rulings, which had only found the journalists guilty of revealing security secrets. Crucially, the appellate court also deemed the journalists guilty of attempting to reveal secrets based on draft articles that were never published.

The matter has been brought to the ECHR precisely concerning the unpublished articles.

— Erja YläjärviErja Yläjärvi, executive editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat, clarifies the specific focus of the appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Supreme Court's refusal in December to grant leave to appeal meant the appellate court's decision stood. Helsingin Sanomat announced in January its intention to bring the matter before the ECHR. According to Erja Yläjärvi, the executive editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat, the case was brought to the ECHR specifically concerning the convictions related to unpublished articles. Yläjärvi emphasized the case's importance not only for her newspaper but for the entire media industry. She has previously described the conviction of journalists for unpublished material as highly exceptional, even by European standards.

It is highly exceptional, even by European standards, that journalists are convicted for unpublished articles.

— Erja YläjärviErja Yläjärvi expresses her view on the unusual nature of the convictions, highlighting the case's significance for media freedom.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Helsingin Sanomat in Finnish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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