Green MP calls for winding up of Finnish Security Police

Heidi Hautala

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Member of Parliament Heidi Hautala (Green League) would be ready to close down the Finnish Security Police (SUPO).
      In an interview with the Green’s weekly newspaper Vihreä Lanka ("Green Thread"), Hautala said that the tasks of the Security Police should be divided between the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Defence Forces.
     
According to Hautala, the Security Police is an institution originating from the Cold War, founded for certain specific tasks during that period. Later on, entirely different kinds of tasks were assigned to the branch, but its modus operandi has not changed, she charges.
      "SUPO has been the police of the Finnish President, and it has been linked with Finland’s foreign policy. However, no political debate has been conducted on the role of SUPO, even though the Finnish constitution has been changed more towards parlamentarism", Hautala notes.
     
Hautala would transfer some of SUPO's tasks to the country's central criminal police arm, the National Bureau of Investigation, including the fight against terrorism and other serious international crimes, while the task of counter-espionage work could be moved to the Finnish Defence Forces.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Rusi lawyers say Security Police failed in basic task (21.8.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat