Interior Minister wary of publication of Security Police Stasi list

Decision on "Tiitinen List" to come later this week

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Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund (Nat. Coalition Party) feels that the Security Police (SUPO) should reconsider the possible publication of the material that it has concerning Finnish contacts of the East German secret police Stasi.
      The minister says that a good opportunity for such a move is opening up right now, with the process of choosing a new director for the body is now underway.
      "I believe that in that situation there will be a more general assessment of the relationship between the Security Police and public information, and to what an extent it is possible to promote openness of some kind", Holmlund said on Monday.
      She emphasised that it is not the mission of the Security Police to be an open unit. "I recommend that the Security Police ponder its own role."
     
Former President Mauno Koivisto proposed in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat last Sunday that the so-called Tiitinen list should be made public. Agreeing with Koivisto was former SUPO director Seppo Tiitinen.
     
The list was drafted in 1990. It is believed to contain the names of 18 people in Helsinki, provided by the West German intelligence service, who are believed to have maintained contacts with the East German intelligence service.
      Interior Minister Holmlund is not enthusiastic about the idea that the lists should be made public.
      "It is not long ago that the Supreme Administrative Court decided that the Security Police have a basis for keeping it secret. This is a big issue for protection of the individual. Could it possibly lead to lawsuits?"
     
Holmlund believes that Tiitinen's list was not a "very relevant" part of SUPO's Stasi material. However, she has not seen the list herself.
      "It seems right now that Stasi and SUPO are almost walking hand-in-hand. And yet preserving the Stasi archives is hardly the most important task of the Security Police; it has other, more significant jobs to do."
      The SUPO management team will convene at the end of the week to consider the publication of the Tiitinen list. The team comprises the director and deputy directors of SUPO.
      "We will examine it this week what it really is all about", said acting SUPO director Petri Knape to Helsingin Sanomat on Monday. "Then we will consider if there is any reason for changes somewhere."
      Knape himself feels that the list should not be made public. The reasons include the protection of privacy, keeping SUPO documents classified, and the possible endangerment of international relations.
     
Supreme Police Commander Markku Salminen agrees with Knape, noting that SUPO made a legal decision on keeping the lists a secret, and that no new turns have taken place in the matter.
      "It is not a matter for a president or a government, because the document is a SUPO document. SUPO is responsible for its preservation, possession, and for giving out information about it."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ex-President Koivisto urges publication of Security Police Stasi list (3.9.2007)
  Former President Ahtisaari testifies in Alpo Rusi case (29.8.2007)
  COMMENTARY: Security Police stretch legal room to manoeuvre to extreme (28.8.2007)
  Supreme Police Command finds no fault with Security Police procedures in Stasi matter (27.8.2007)
  Debate over disclosure of Stasi material heats up as Security Police director resigns (30.7.2007)
  Court rejects Alpo Rusi call to publish Stasi lists (26.4.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat