The National Police Board’s legality control unit has resolved the issue of preventing the filming of a protest held on a logging site at Aalistunturi in Lapland on 20 February this year. It was found that there were insufficient grounds to ban video documentation.
In February 2023, the National Police Board became aware that the police had prevented Forest Movement (Metsäliike) activists from filming the dismantling of the wooden tripod used in the protest on a logging site at Aalistunturi in Lapland. The National Police Board took the grounds for the police action as the subject of a self-initiated legality control investigation. The National Police Board obtained statements from the Lapland and Oulu police departments and reports from the responsible public officials in the case.
According to the reports and statements, the senior duty commanding officer stated that filming the tripod used in the protest was prevented because dismantling was carried out in accordance with a tactical or technical method practiced by the police. The police showed the protesters a place where they could watch the dismantling and filming could continue once the police had dismantled the tripod.
In its decision, the National Police Board finds that video documentation is covered by freedom of speech and can be restricted only on grounds based on the law. Consideration of the matter took into account the action of the police, the scene of the incident and the circumstances. Based on the reports and statements, there had been no legal grounds to ban filming and in turn the freedom of speech at the scene of the incident. In this respect, the senior duty commanding officer must be deemed to have acted incorrectly.
The police legality control unit helps the police to try to align and harmonise operations. At the same time, legality control specifies how the police must interpret the law in different situations.
