Jyväskylä city councillor Teemu Torssonen is suspected of staging the burglary of a car in his possession. The suspicion of the staging of a car burglary dates back to a case that happened in the spring of 2020.
Last year, Torssonen was remanded into pre-trial custody on suspicion of the attempted murder of Finns Party aide Pekka Kataja. Kataja claimed that two unknown men attacked him at the front door of his home on 17 July 2020, also hitting him in the head with a hard object.
He was cleared of the charges in early February.
Nuisance calls and car vandalism
According to Torssonen, the events relating to the car break-in began on 24 May 2020, following a situation where a man was threatening his spouse. Torssonen went to the scene and confronted the man. The situation escalated, and resulted in both men being suspected of assault.
At the time, Torssonen commented on the events in the newspaper Keskisuomalainen. In the story, he said a man attacked him, which resulted in Torssonen hitting him with a rock. Speaking to Yle, Torssonen denies having committed any crime.
"It was a matter of self-defence," Torssonen said.
A few days later, on 27 May 2020, Keskisuomalainen reported that a car used by Torssonen had been subjected to vandalism. The newspaper published pictures showing a broken rear window, spray paint on the car, and a note attached to the windscreen wipers. The note read "nazi pig".
Torssonen told Keskisuomalainen that he had received dozens of nuisance calls from a hidden number. He also told the newspaper at the time that he intended to increase safety precautions due to the nuisance calls and car vandalism.
Suspected of beating a man with a rock
When Torssonen was suspected of beating the man with a rock, police ordered him to return his firearms to the authorities. This is standard practice in situations where the holder of a firearms licence is suspected of a crime.
However, according to police, Torssonen informed them his car had been broken into and his firearms had been stolen from it.
When police began the investigation into Teemu Torssonen's involvment in Pekka Kataja's murder attempt, the weapons were found on the other side of the country, in the possession of one of Torssonen's acquaintances.
Police suspect that Torssonen asked his friend to pick up his guns, and staged the car burglary.
The event was recorded as a suspected serious firearms offence, and the prosecutor is currently considering charges. Torssonen denies staging the car break-in.
"That's the police's opinion. I really haven't broken into my own car," Torssonen said.
On the instructions of his legal counsel, Torssonen did not comment on the details of the firearms crime suspicion, but stated that an "arms concealment" is being investigated.
Arms concealment in Finland generally refers to a secret activity that began after the ceasefire of the Continuation War, in which weapons used in the war were concealed all over the country. The purpose of the concealment was to store weapons in case the Soviet Union, in violation of the ceasefire agreement, tried to occupy Finland.
Torssonen was elected to the Jyväskylä city council on the Finns Party ticket in 2017, but was expelled from the party in 2019.
Following the suspicion of attempted murder, the Jyväskylä City Council dismissed the entire city board due to a lack of confidence, and then immediately appointed a new board at a council meeting.
The city board is in charge of the city's administration and prepares matters for consideration by the wider city council.
The decision was made in order to remove Torssonen as a board member, but he refused to resign. Under Finnish municipal law, a member of the board suspected of a crime may be removed from public office if he or she has been charged, but Torssonen was never officially charged even though he was in pre-trial custody.
Torssonen remains a member of the council.
