Finnish police investigate rare treason offences

Finnish police said Friday they were investigating two suspected cases of treason relating to intelligence activities and dissemination of national secrets, offences that are highly unusual in the Nordic country.

The National Bureau of Investigation remained tight-lipped about the details but confirmed probes into two separate treason offences. The police did not say if anyone had been arrested.

One case regarded the disclosure of national secrets, detective inspector Jukka Nurmenniemi told AFP.

Detective inspector Masi Puolakka confirmed the other investigation into unauthorised intelligence activities.

"This is a very exceptional investigation," Kimmo Nuotio, professor of criminal law at the University of Helsinki, told AFP.

The case concerning unauthorised intelligence activities is especially rare in Finland, Nuotio said.

"I don't recall that a case of unauthorised intelligence activities has ever been brought into our courts."

That charge concerns intelligence activities carried out in Finland but directed at another country, harming Helsinki's foreign relations.

Disclosure of national secrets, on the other hand, involves the collection and dissemination of classified information about matters of national importance.

"This is the more familiar offence," Nuotio explained. "The situation is very unclear. It is not even known whether these two cases are related."

Finland along with neighbouring Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and scrambled to become a NATO member in May, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

All 30 NATO member states except Hungary and Turkey have ratified Finland's accession, which requires unanimous approval.