Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Thursday that the case concerning a police search of a Helsingin Sanomat reporter last month should be dealt behind closed doors.
In December police carried out a search of the home of Laura Halminen, a journalist who helped creating a report published by Helsingin Sanomat about the Defence Forces' Intelligence Research Centre.
The article included information from ten-year-old classified documents. It was reported at the time that police seized cell phones, computers and thumb drives during the search.
Out of the public eye
The NBI said on Thursday that the case needed to be looked at privately because their preliminary investigation is incomplete.
The person in charge of the preliminary investigation, Markku Ranta-aho said that the police will request that the matter be handled in private and that the documents concerning the probe be confidentially sealed.
The NBI has until Friday to submit its account of the police search of Halminen's home to Helsinki District Court.
The article about the Defence Forces' Intelligence Research Centre, which sparked the house search, was published in HS in the middle of December.
The same day the piece was published police announced they were investigating a sensitive data leak in connection to content in the article.
The search of Halminen's home took place the next day, when police reportedly seized 19 items which contain source-protected materials. The seized items are currently in the possession of police.