Five Finnish and two Swedish nationals faced the District Court of Central Finland, three days after being apprehended for a violent assault that took place in the central Finnish town of Jyväskyla. The defendants face charges of violent riot and assault. One of the Swedes was remanded to police custody pending a trial. The second was also placed in pre-trial detention later Tuesday evening.
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) says that unregistered organisations such as the Finnish Resistance Movement, the group behind the demonstrations, pose a threat to public order in Finland. However, security chief Kari Harju says that the likelihood of this kind of violent unrest has always been a factor, and that the level of threat remains constant.
"In practice, the threat exists at the street level and our threat assessment highlights this," says Harju. "But our threat assessment indicates that this type of violent event is likely to remain."
Violent acts have a way of attracting more violence, Harju notes. He says that organisations recruit new members through such activities. However, he does not believe that this will lead to growth in the support for this particular political ideology.
"I don’t think there will be an increase in the organisation’s political intensity because National Socialism, which the movement advocates, is a grim echo. I do not believe they will gain support from this action," Harju says.
The security head reiterates that while street level unrest may continue, its political implications are minimal.
"The political threat is not significant. The question of whether it will expand or wither away is partly a socio-political issue," the security chief states.
"Seeds germinate under certain social conditions and unemployment and social exclusion certainly have an effect."
Update: 17:59 This story was updated to reflect new information that one Swedish national - not both of the Swedes detained by police - was sent to remand to await a trial.
Update: 19:28 The article was updated to reflect the fact that a Swedish national was remanded to await trial.