The 2012 conference of the National Coalition party was the target of a planned terror attack which police managed to stop, according to a story first reported by commercial broadcaster MTV’s Rikospaikka – Crime Scene – show on Wednesday evening.
MTV says a man in his mid-40s from central Finland had prepared for the attack with explosives, smoke bombs and other weapons.
The target was in Rovaniemi, where then-Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen was leading the National Coalition Party’s summer conference at the Lappi Areena sports hall, which is on the east side of the town.
The event was attended by government ministers, and hundreds of ordinary members of the party.
Last Friday Finnish police chief Seppo Kolehmainen said that authorities had cooperated together to stop a terrorist attack against a political target, but did not give any details about the plot at that time. It is not known if he was alluding to the possible Rovaniemi attack which MTV reported.
MTV says the 40-year-old man, who was apparently suffering from mental health problems, was already heading to the railway station in Jyväskylä, on his way to carry out the attack in Rovaniemi, when he changed his mind and contacted police instead.
When he went to the police station, according to MTV, he had to wait a long time, and his story was not taken seriously by officers at first. The situation changed when explosives and weapons were found in the man’s bag at the nearby station or. According to the Crime Scene show, the weapons belonged to the man’s father.
Robin Lardot, Director of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation NBI did not immediately confirm the details of MTV’s story.