A Spanish national in his early 20s who lives in Finland was handed a four-month suspended sentence by Helsinki District Court after being found guilty of training to commit a terrorist crime.
The court found that the man, who was placed in custody in December, had been acquiring information about the activities of extremist Islamic groups over the course of several years.
Those terrorist groups included the Islamic State, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. The court found he sourced the terrorist organisations' materials from others on the social media platform Telegram.
He also used an assault rifle-type airsoft gun that shoots plastic projectiles, which resembled a military-style weapon.
The court said it had been proven that the man had admired the activities of extremist movements and trained to take part in them. The court found that he expressed interest in attending the training camps of the terrorist organisations. He was also found to have taken pictures and videos of himself portraying a terrorist.
The court found the man had carried out the crimes from the summer of 2020 until December 2022.
Court didn't believe claims
Throughout the preliminary investigation and his trial, the defendant acknowledged that he was interested in the extremist groups, particularly their theology. He also admitted that he agreed with the groups on some issues.
However, at the same time, he also claimed to condemn violent acts, saying that he pretended to admire extremist groups in conversations to earn their trust
But the district court did not believe those claims, finding that the defendant had genuinely admired the extremists' activities and had trained with the intent to take part in such activities.
The court noted that the mere admiration of terrorist activity is not a crime, but training with an intent to carry out such acts is.
Helsinki police uncovered the man's activities while investigating another suspected crime.
Prosecutors sought a prison sentence of at least one and a half years in the case.
The court took into account that the defendant had not previously been sentenced to a prison term and handed him a four-month suspended sentence.