The Southwest Finland police department said on Friday that it had released one of the suspects believed to be members of a far-right terror cell in the town of Kankaanpää.
Last Friday, Satakunta District Court remanded five men, aged 23-26, on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. This was the first time such charges have ever been filed against a far-right group in Finland.
One of the suspects was arrested conditionally, with the court giving police a week to gather further information on the suspect before possibly extending the detention.
The head of the investigation said that the higher threshold needed to continue the individual’s detention had not so far been met based on interrogations and other preliminary investigation material. As a result, the suspect was been released on Friday.
Gag order but no travel ban
As law enforcement officials saw no probable cause to suspect that he might commit a crime, no travel ban was imposed on the suspect.
However, the man is still suspected of terrorist offenses and his involvement in the case is still being investigated. According to police, he does not currently pose any danger.
The suspect’s attorney, Jarkko Liljeqvist, said his client was pleased with the decision. The suspect is under a gag order forbidding him to talk about the case.
Kankaanpää is a town of some 11,000 people in the Satakunta region, about 50km inland from Pori.
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