Police in Helsinki have completed preliminary investigations involving Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns) and handed the case files to prosecutors for further consideration of charges.
Defamation case
The first investigation concerns a Helsingin Sanomat article published in the summer of 2022 which suggested that Rydman had harassed young women when he served as an MP for the National Coalition Party.
That article cited several women who made allegations about Rydman. A number of the female interviewees had been minors at the time of the allegations, with some telling the paper about alleged use of alcohol and violence.
The article also suggested that Rydman's interest in young women and girls was well known among his fellow party members but this knowledge was kept from the public.
Rydman denied the allegations of inappropriate behaviour and filed a request for investigation with police.
Helsingin Sanomat's editor-in-chief, Antero Mukka, told Yle in July 2022 that the paper was standing by the article and that it had been carefully researched.
The criminal charges in the case include defamation, aggravated defamation, dissemination of information violating personal privacy as well as editorial misconduct.
The case is being passed to prosecutors, with police stating they would not offer more specific information about the suspected crimes.
Rydman as suspect
Police also wrapped up two other separate preliminary investigations involving Rydman.
The first concerns a suspected breach of confidentiality for the alleged use in a book by Rydman of confidential information he obtained when he was suspected of having committed sexual offences.
Deputy State prosecutor Jukka Rappe had overturned a previous decision not to investigate that case, and that investigation is now complete.
The case is also headed to prosecutors for consideration.
The third case is connected to the allegations set out in the Helsingin Sanomat article. Police passed that investigation to prosecutors but did not state the charges considered or the content of the complaint.
Older case rejected
After Helsingin Sanomat published its story in the summer of 2022, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) opened a preliminary investigation into an alleged rape.
That case, alleged to have taken place in 2015, was orginally investigated in 2020 and found to be groundless. The case was re-opened by the NBI in the wake of the new HS reporting.
However, in December 2022, Finland's National Prosecution Authority announced that no charges were being filed against Rydman, due to lack of probable grounds.