Three men suspected of involvement in Islamic State (IS) group activities were detained in Finland last week, Finnish police told AFP on Monday.
The three, in their 30s—whose names were not disclosed and who are not Finnish citizens—were detained in Helsinki, police said.
IS is classified as a terrorist group in Finland.
Mikko Salminen, a detective inspector with Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), refused to specify what the men were suspected of, but said the investigated offence was “not common at all” in Finland.
There was no evidence indicating the men had planned terrorist attacks locally, Finnish police added.
“They are suspected of contributing to the activities of a radical Islamistic terrorist group,” Salminen told AFP.
“We suspect that it is related to ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) activities,” he added.
Police said they believed the crimes had been committed in 2023 and 2024, but were still working out the precise time period.
Given the investigation is at an early stage, Salminen was unable to provide more details about the backgrounds of the suspects.
The NBI arrested the trio last week and they were remanded in custody by the District Court of Helsinki on September 13th.
In December last year, a survey found that almost half of Finns polled want to halt all humanitarian immigration, saying it erodes the country’s educational and welfare systems, as well as having a negative impact on social trust and crime rates.
