Former Security Police Chief Favours Release of Stasi List
The former director of Finland’s Security Police, Seppo Tiitinen says he would now favour releasing a list of purported East German intelligence contacts in Finland. However, top police officials remain opposed to its publication.
In an interview published in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday, former President Mauno Koivisto also said that it would be wiser to release the list than to continue the present secrecy surrounding the document.
The list, obtained from West Germany in 1990 supposedly names 18 Finns who acted as intelligence contacts for the East German secret police Stasi.
Seppo Tiitinen, who headed Finland’s Security Police at the time, told YLE on Sunday that publishing the list would put an end to speculation and unfounded accusations.
Tiitinen is currently Secretary General of Parliament.
In 1990, Tiitinen and then-President Mauno Koivisto decided that the list did not give cause for follow-up investigations and it was put under lock and key by the Security Police. One reason no action was taken was that the document was only a list of names without details of any activities by the people named.
Top Police Officials Opposed to Publication
Interviewed by the tabloid Ilta Sanomat, Finland’s Chief of Police Markku Salminen reiterated his opposition to the publication of Tiitinen’s list. Salminen said had the backing of the Security Police’s Deputy Chief Petri Knape on the issue.
Politicians remain divided on the issue. Interior Minister Anne Holmlund believes the list should not be released while her cabinet colleague Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva told YLE Morning Tv that while he favoured a more open line on such matters, publication should not lead to a round of litigation.
A former advisor to ex-President Martti Ahtisaari, Alpo Rusi is seeking damages over allegations that he had spied for East and has demanded the publication of related documents. The Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that the decision whether or not to release the papers lies with the Security Police.
http://www.yle.fi/news/id68807.html
