Five young men in Finland could be facing terrorism charges over forming an alleged “Satanic Neo Nazi” group and plotting to carry out attacks.
The five men living in the Kankaanpää region were initially arrested last December and police have claimed they adhere to the ideology of “accelerationism” and were working to collapse Finland’s social system through acts of terror and violence.
The European Union police agency Europol later mentioned the arrests in a report published in July of this year, stating: “The suspects followed a right-wing ideology influenced by accelerationist and apocalyptical Satanist ideas and wanted to foment chaos in society in order to accelerate the collapse of Western societies, using extreme violence to pursue their aims.”
However, according to a report from Finnish broadcaster Yle, investigators in Finland have yet to confirm that the suspects in the case subscribed to a Satanic Neo-Nazi ideology.
All five of the men have been at large for months after police were not able to present sufficient grounds for keeping them in jail in January.
The arrest is not the first for the five men, who were taken into custody in 2020 over alleged firearms and explosives offences that took place between August and December of 2019. Four of the men are also accused of a theft that occurred in October of 2018.
Detective Superintendent Toni Sjöblom stated this week that the pre-trial investigation is still ongoing and investigators were waiting for an expert opinion from the Finnish Security Intelligence service, expected in the coming days.
“After that, the parties will be given the opportunity to make a final statement. Based on this, the police may need to conduct further investigations. I would estimate that it will still be at least a month before the case goes to the prosecutor,” Sjöblom said.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.