Three Finnish men found guilty of making guns using 3D printers and committing crimes
A court in Finland convicted three men of committing crimes committed with terrorist intent, after they produced semi-automatic weapons using a 3-D printer.
The men were neo Nazis and believed to be anti-immigrants. The court noted their intention to attack immigrants, critical infrastructure and perceived political opponents.
The main suspect, Viljam Lauri Atero Nyman (29), was sentenced to more than three years of imprisonment and charged with aggravated gun crimes. Nyman was also convicted of a narcotics charge at Tuesday’s hearing at Paijat-Hame district court.
His two partners received a sentence of one year and nine month in prison, and a suspended sentence for seven months, respectively, due to their involvement in terrorism related crimes, namely the manufacture of firearms, and training in how to use them.
Finland’s first terror conviction linked to far-right
YLE reported that this was Finland’s first terrorism conviction related to far-right extremism. These crimes took place between 2021 and 2023.
According to the prosecution, the defendants believed that violence against perceived enemies such as immigrants, ethnic and religion minorities, and Anti-fascists was justified in order to protect the supposed superiority the white population.
Also, they planned to attack civilian infrastructure like electricity grids and railroads.
A police investigation found that their activities had not reached the level of preparation for a terrorist act.
In the same case, the fourth defendant, a 66-year-old man, received a one-year and two-month prison sentence for firearm crimes that were ‘not’ committed with terrorist intent.
Suspects have criminal records
All four men had criminal records on their names. One of the suspects tried to disrupt a storytime for children hosted by Oodi Central Library’s drag queen last summer.
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Another suspect, born 1996, had been convicted earlier of drunken driving and other drug-related offenses.
A third man, who was born in 2001, is linked to Nazis in Oulu. The fourth suspect also has strong ties to far-right and neo Nazi circles.
(With inputs by agencies)