Suojelupoliisi
Suojelupoliisi ( Schutzpolizei ) ( Supo for short , Swedish Skyddspolisen ) is the security police responsible for state security and at the same time the civil intelligence service of Finland with 224 employees (2009) based in Helsinki .
Supo reports directly to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior. Their tasks include counter-espionage and secrecy protection, counter-terrorism and surveillance of extremists as well as the security of the country. The Supo is also allowed to use intelligence services, but does not engage in active espionage.
history
Provisional authorities with security duties had existed in Finland since 1919. The incorporation of security services into the police force of a country is a Nordic peculiarity. In most countries there are divisions between the police and intelligence services.
The Supo was founded in 1949 as the successor to the Communist-dominated State Police ( Valtiollinen poliisi, "Punainen Valpo" ) from 1945 to 1948 . In 1947 the Finnish government set up a committee of inquiry, the Ahlbäck Committee, to investigate the activities of the "Red Valpo". In the July 1948 elections , the Communist Party was defeated and left the government.
On the basis of various investigation reports, the social democratic minority government of Karl-August Fagerholm detached Valpo from its security duties and founded the Suojelupoliisi. Parliament approved the reorganization and the law came into effect on December 17, 1948. Valpo took on duties as the immigration police and has since transformed into today's border guard.
The powers of the Supo were severely restricted, for example officials of the service were not allowed to make arrests and the service was not allowed to initiate investigations independently. Of course, Supo was also not allowed to tap into phone calls or engage in international espionage. If an investigation was actually required, the Finnish State Police carried it out until 1989.
The Supo staff came from the normal police force.
The most important task of the Supo in the early days was to monitor communist activities. In addition, counter-espionage was operated, especially to ward off agents of the former Soviet Union , whereby discretion and caution were always required.
In the 1950s, the tasks of the Supo were more differentiated and the offices for counterintelligence, security and technical services were established. In the 1970s, counter-terrorism became more and more important and the area of responsibility of Supo was expanded. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, functions continued to develop, especially internal security.
In 1982 the offices became departments and the structure comprised:
- Surveillance (Surveillance Dept.)
- Security (Security Dept.)
- Technik (Technical Dept.) and
- General Affairs Dept.
From January 1, 1989, the Supo was granted all police rights, i.e. arrests and independent investigations. Initially, these rights were limited to the directors and their deputies; later high officials took over these rights.
In 1992, Supo was restructured into three functional areas: Security, Counterintelligence and Development & Support, which were further broken down into offices and units. The secretariat was directly subordinate to the director of the Supo.
When Finland joined the European Union in 1995, the international tasks of Supo increased. The Finnish EU presidencies in 1999 and 2006 called for increased personal security for foreign state guests. Seppo Tiitinen had already strengthened relations with the British and American intelligence services. Under the direction of Eero Kekomäki, the Supo joined the Bern Club . Relations intensified under Seppo Nevala and Finland hosted a security conference for the first time.
In 2002, the security work of the Supo and security clearances for important positions were more clearly defined by parliament. After the threat from communist forces subsided, attention was paid to other extremist forces, some of which also operate from abroad.
In 2004 the service was restructured again into an operational, a preventive and a strategic line. In the operational line, counter-espionage, counter-terrorism and surveillance were combined after the tasks had increased sharply as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 . The preventive line was commissioned with personal protection and domestic security and carried out investigations. In particular, the protection of the Prime Minister and, if necessary, of cabinet members has become increasingly important since 2000. The protection of the president is still the responsibility of the traffic police. Administration, a data management unit and research and development are organized in the strategic line.
In 2005, an advisory body was set up in which the international relations of Supo were primarily maintained, legal supervision and advice for parliament. As of 2007, Supo also took over the 24/7 Situation Center of the Prime Minister's office (comparable to the Federal Chancellery ).
Head of Supo
- until May 1949 Aatto Virta (Managing Director)
- 1949-1972 Armas Alhava
- 1972–1978 Arvo Pentti
- 1978–1990 Seppo Tiitinen
- 1990-1996 Eero Kekomäki
- 1996-2007 Seppo Nevala
- 2007–2011 Ilkka Salmi
- since 2011 Antti Pelttari
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am website ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the Suojelupoliisi (Finnish Security Intelligence Service) in English; accessed on March 5, 2014.
- ↑ Message from the European Parliament on the appointment of Ilkka Salmi from February 2011.
- ↑ Press release on the death of Osama bin Laden, accessed on March 4, 2014.
