His primary suspected crime is the disclosure of a security secret. This means publishing, transmitting, handing over or unlawfully acquiring information that, if disclosed, could cause serious harm to Finland's security or national defence.
Disclosing a security secret is punishable by up to four years in prison. Negligence in such a case can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up two years.
Special Prosecutor Tarmo Tanner told Yle that there is no further information to share at this stage of the investigation, and that he couldn't comment on the criminal charges. The investigation has been going on for about a year.
On Thursday, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) announced at a hastily arranged press conference that Pelttari was under investigation for possible official misconduct in his previous job as director of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo).
He said that Pelttari would be questioned by the Parliamentary Office before any decision on whether to suspend him from his post. That is scheduled to happen on 5 June.
In a post on X, Pelttari said that the suspicion centred on his not intervening in a case involving retired Supo officials who still had access to confidential information about the agency’s activities. He denied being guilty of any crime.
Pelttari was elected as Secretary-General of Parliament in late 2023, and took over at the beginning of 2024.
He had been director of Supo since 2011. Before that, he held senior posts at the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, and served as counsel to Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees.
AzVision.az
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