COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (AP) – Three journalists went on trial yesterday in Finland on charges of revealing national defence secrets for allegedly publishing classified documents in a newspaper article.
The December 16, 2017, article in daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat focussed on the Finnish Intelligence Research Center, a military intelligence agency.
The investigative report revealed the rough location and tasks of an intelligence unit of the defence forces.
Reporters Tuomo Pietilaina and Laura Halmi, and the paper’s acting manager at the time, Kalle Silfverberg, have denied wrongdoing.
If convicted, they face prison sentences of up four years, according to Finnish broadcaster MTV. A planned follow-up article was not published on the order of the editor-in-chief, according to MTV.
