Currently in Russia on pre-trial detention, Saarela was arrested for participating in protests against Russian company Gazprom’s northern sea drilling operations. Activists had attempted to access a drilling platform in the Pechora Sea.
“It’s difficult for me to do anything about the issue, but she should be freed” Ollila told Yle. “I don’t see myself as having a role. That role falls to the independent state’s legal institutions.”