HELSINKI (AP) — Prosecutors in Finland filed charges Thursday against four Finnish men, who are part of a radicalized domestic group, for plotting attacks against migrants, critical infrastructure and their perceived political opponents, authorities said.
Police said the men are also suspected of manufacturing weapons by 3D printing in preparation for a racially-motivated armed conflict in Finland.
Three of the men have been charged with terrorist crimes for the manufacture of firearms and training to use them.
Finnish public broadcaster YLE said the four embrace neo-Nazi ideology, particularly the concept of accelerationism which is a fringe philosophy that promotes mass violence to fuel society’s collapse and is favored by white supremacists.
“Based on their racist beliefs, the defendants are suspected of having prepared for an armed conflict between population groups, in which people would be killed and the structures of society would be undermined by attacks using home-made firearms,” Jukka Rappe, deputy state prosecutor at the National Prosecution Authority said in a statement.
Preliminary investigation showed that the defendants’ activity didn’t progress to the level of preparation for a concrete act of terrorism, prosecutors said.
According to Finnish police, the four men are suspected of collecting contact information of ideological opponents and associations — including supporters of leftist policies — and planning armed attacks on them. They also plotted attacks on key civilian infrastructure such as electricity grids and railroads.
The men are also facing charges of firearms possession and narcotics crimes believed not to be related to the terrorism plot.
The defendants, one of whom remains in police custody, have pleaded not guilty to most of the charges.
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