Finnish neo-Nazis used 3D printer to make guns in preparation for ‘race war’
Three Finnish men who embraced neo-Nazi ideology have been found guilty of committing crimes with terrorist intent including plotting attacks against immigrants, critical infrastructure, and their perceived political opponents.
Prosecutors told the court that the men had produced semi-automatic weapons using a 3D printer in preparation for a “race war” against their opponents.
The main suspect, Viljam Lauri Antero Nyman, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison on charges of aggravated firearms offences committed with terrorist intent as well as training to commit a terrorist act.
Nyman, 29, was also convicted of a narcotics charge at Tuesday’s hearing at Paijat-Hame district court.
His two accomplices received a sentence of one year and nine months in prison and a suspended prison sentence of seven months, respectively.
They were charged with the terrorismrelated crimes of manufacture of firearms and training to use them.
The public broadcaster YLE said the case marked the first terrorism conviction in Finland that was linked to farright ideology.
The crimes took place between 2021 and 2023.
The defendants believed that protecting the superiority of the white population justified the use of violence against perceived enemies including immigrants, ethnic and religious minorities, and anti-fascists, prosecutors said.
The men also plotted attacks on civilian infrastructure such as electricity grids and railways.
A police investigation showed that the defendants’ activity did not progress to the level of preparation for a concrete act of terrorism.
The fourth defendant in the case, a 66-year-old man, was handed a prison sentence of one year and two months for firearm crimes that were not committed with terrorist intent.