The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has concluded criminal investigation into several aggravated criminal offences committed in Liberia between 2000 and 2003. The suspect is a Sierra Leone national born in 1969.
The Sierra Leonean is suspected of murders, aggravated warfare crimes and aggravated human rights violations against civilians in a state of emergency. The Criminal Code in force during the commission of the crimes has been applied in the investigation. The corresponding present Criminal Code titles are aggravated war crime and aggravated crime against humanity.
The investigated criminal offences have been committed during the Liberian civil war when the suspect has held a leading position in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a Sierra Leonean rebel group involved in the civil war. In the group the man is suspected of having committed and incited others to several aggravated offences.
- The investigation process has been extensive and it has included a lot of international co-operation. Criminal investigation has been conducted mainly in Liberia and partly in Sierra Leone, and witnesses and victims have been interviewed during trips to these two countries. Co-operation has been smooth both in Finland and between our international partners, Head of Investigation, Detective Superintendent Thomas Elfgren from the NBI says.
The suspect has lived in Finland for years and the Pirkanmaa District Court remanded him for trial in March 2020. The NBI issued a press release on the matter.
Criminal investigation into the case was launched in the autumn of 2018 at the order of the Prosecutor General. The case will now be referred to the consideration of charges to the Office of the Prosecutor General. The right to prosecute ends on 25 January 2021. The prosecutor in the case is State Prosecutor Tom Laitinen.
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