Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) officials are facing trial over allegations that the agency used retired intelligence officers to gather information about Russian espionage, raising questions about how Finland’s intelligence service handled classified information and whether its methods complied with the law.
Seven current or former Supo employees, including former director Antti Pelttari, have been charged with disclosing classified information. Four of the defendants also face charges of misconduct in office. All seven deny the allegations.
The case focuses on Supo’s counter-intelligence department and its activities between 2012 and 2024. During this period, the department allegedly relied on retired Supo officers as sources in its efforts to monitor foreign intelligence activities, particularly Russian espionage.
The central issue is whether retired intelligence officers were legally allowed to continue accessing information obtained through their former positions. Once they left Supo and became private citizens, they no longer had the same official authority to handle the agency’s classified material.
Prosecutors allege that the arrangements allowed information to be disclosed to individuals who were no longer authorised to receive it. The case does not, however, involve allegations that any of the defendants worked for a foreign government or deliberately assisted Russian intelligence.
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Instead, the trial will examine whether Supo’s use of former officers as intelligence sources was lawful and whether those involved breached their official responsibilities. The charges were brought by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
At least two former Supo investigators reportedly continued gathering information about Russian espionage after retiring and passed what they learned to the agency over several years. Their involvement has become a central part of the investigation into how the counter-intelligence department obtained and handled information.
The case has also drawn attention because of the background of one of the people involved. According to an earlier investigation by Helsingin Sanomat, one of the accused former Supo officers won more than 60 million euros in the Eurojackpot lottery in 2014 and subsequently spent millions of euros supporting Supo.
The individual died in April 2024, while the suspected offences were still under investigation.
The proceedings place the agency’s intelligence-gathering practices under scrutiny, particularly the boundaries between official intelligence work and the use of private individuals who previously held sensitive positions within Finland’s security services.
