HELSINKI: Court documents on Monday identified the suspect in last week’s stabbing spree in a Finnish city as 18-year-old Abderrahman Mechkah, who the country’s intelligence agency said may have been radicalized.
The stabbing is being probed as the country’s first-ever terror attack.
Police have previously described the suspect as an asylum seeker from Morocco.
He targeted women in the attack at a market square in the southwestern port of Turku on Friday. Two people were killed dead and eight were injured.
The motive for the attack is unclear. But the Finnish intelligence agency SUPO said Turku police had received a tip early this year that Mechkah “appeared... to have been radicalized and showed interest in extremist ideologies.”
The tip, which had been forwarded to the SUPO, “contained no information about any threat of an attack.”
Mechkah, whom police shot in the thigh while arresting him minutes after the rampage, is to appear before the Turku court on Tuesday via video link from hospital, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.
His court appearance had initially been scheduled for Monday.
Police will ask the court to remand him in custody on suspicion of two murders and eight attempted murders “with terrorist intent.”
Investigators said on Sunday that they had interrogated the suspect for the first time, but disclosed no information about the outcome.
Police will also request the detention of four other Moroccan citizens who were arrested in an overnight raid on a Turku apartment building and refugee housing center just hours after the attack.
“They are suspected of participation in the murders and attempted murders committed with a terrorist intent. They deny any involvement in the offenses,” the NBI said.
Police said earlier that the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in Finland in early 2016.
The attack occurred just after 4:00 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Friday, with police shooting the knife-wielding suspect minutes later.
The two people who died were both Finnish women, born in 1951 and 1986. Six of the injured were also women, while two men were injured trying to fend off the attacker.
Among the injured were an Italian, a Swede and a Briton.
Finland raised its emergency readiness level after the attack, increasing security at airports and train stations and putting more officers on the streets.
The SUPO said authorities had received over a thousand tips in recent years similar to the one concerning Mechkah.
“Our aim is to investigate all tips, but in order to go through all of them we have to prioritize heavily. Those tips that contain information about a concrete threat must be prioritized,” it said.
In June, the SUPO raised Finland’s terror threat level by a notch, to “elevated” from “low,” the second on a four-tier scale.
It said at the time that it saw an increased risk of an attack committed by Daesh militants, noting that foreign fighters from Finland had “gained significant positions within Daesh in particular and have an extensive network of relations in the organization.”
The agency reiterated on Monday that it was closely watching around 350 individuals — an increase of 80 percent since 2012.
A minute of silence was held across Finland on Sunday in honor of the victims.
Another minute of silence was to be held in Helsinki on Monday, organized by Christian and Muslim associations.
Turku stabbing suspect may have been radicalized
Turku stabbing suspect may have been radicalized
Russia says Ukraine attacked Putin’s home, Kyiv calls this ‘lie’
- Zelensky called Russia’s claim “complete fabrication” designed to derail peace process, suggested Moscow was preparing to intensify bombardment of Ukraine
KYIV: Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of having fired dozens of drones at one of President Vladimir Putin’s homes, an accusation that Ukraine called a “lie” aimed at undermining US-led efforts to end the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who does not typically announce drone strikes, said Ukraine had fired “91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles” at Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region between late Sunday and early Monday, all of which were shot down.
“Given the complete degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has shifted to a policy of state terrorism, Russia’s negotiating position will be reconsidered,” Lavrov said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with US President Donald Trump on Sunday for talks on ending the war, called Russia’s claim “a complete fabrication” designed to derail the peace process and suggested Moscow was preparing to intensify its bombardment of Ukraine.
“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.
Russia’s accusation comes at a pivotal moment in the peace process.
Ukraine says it has agreed to 90 percent of a US-drafted peace plan — including the issue of post-war security guarantees — though the issue of territory in a post-war settlement remains unresolved.
Russia, which has stayed silent about what parts of the US plan it has agreed to, said Monday it was still committed to the peace process but would “revise” its position in light of the alleged drone attack.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO.
Kyiv and its European allies say the war, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has resulted in a tidal wave of violence and destruction.
Territory main sticking point
Trump has held talks with both sides in recent days, including a phone call with Putin on Monday that the White House described as “positive.”
During talks with Zelensky on Sunday, Trump offered Kyiv long-sought-after security guarantees for a period of 15 years, according to Kyiv.
But the issue of territory and the future of the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remain unresolved, Zelensky said.
Zelensky said Monday that Kyiv was ready for “any” format of meetings — including with Putin if necessary — but said he still did not think the Kremlin chief wanted peace.
The current plan, revised after weeks of intense US-Ukrainian negotiations, would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and establish a demilitarised area.
But the Kremlin has shown no sign of compromise.
Putin said Monday that Russia was pressing ahead with its plan to capture four Ukrainian regions it announced the annexation of in 2022 and that his troops were “confidently advancing.”
Moscow on Monday said it took another village, Dibrova, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
