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| Europe |
| Agent of Moscow. Former head of EU military intelligence is on trial in Finland |
| 2023-10-26 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Viktor Lavrinenko [REGNUM] In Finland, they continue to promote the case of retired intelligence officer Georgy Alafuzoff . This officer faithfully served his state for many years, and it repaid him by persistently trying to make him, if not a full-fledged “agent of Moscow,” then at least an incompetent and clumsy person responsible for the possible leak of top-secret documents. There is an assumption that what is happening is delayed revenge for a position that is non-standard by Finnish standards. Alafuzoff at one time persistently argued that Finland should not destroy good neighborliness with Russia. Revenge deferred Retired Rear Admiral Georgy Borisovich Alafuzoff (Alafuzov), as you can easily guess from his last name, comes from Russian emigrants. The direct ancestor of Georgy Borisovich is Baron Ivan Alafuzov, who lived in St. Petersburg. Georgiy Alafuzoff is now seventy years old and was born in Helsinki. This man was once called one of the most capable officers in Finland, which is confirmed by his successful climb up the career ladder. Having received the rank of naval lieutenant in 1974, he eventually became part of the state’s military leadership. From 2007 to 2013, Alafuzoff served as Chief of Intelligence of the Finnish Defense Forces. At home, he enjoyed the reputation of a “specialist in Russia” - and not only due to his excellent command of the Russian language. In 1997, Alafuzoff graduated with honors from the Russian Academy of the General Staff. The crowning achievement of his career was his move to work outside of Finland - from 2013 to 2016, he headed the intelligence department of the EU Military Headquarters. Currently, Alafuzoff has been retired for seven years. And suddenly in 2019 there was a loud accusation against him: of involvement in the leak of secret data that was at the disposal of the Helsingin Sanomat publication! Two years earlier, the Finnish Central Criminal Police began an investigation into an article published in this publication , highlighting some juicy details of Suomi intelligence activities, including in the Russian direction. Then this story made a lot of noise - the police staged an unauthorized search in the house of journalist Laura Halminen, and she managed to smash the hard drive of her computer with a hammer. After some time, a version was thrown in that it was Alafuzoff who allegedly gave the journalists a flash drive with secret information about the activities of the Finnish Military Intelligence Center. It has been suggested that Alafuzoff may have been upset by his statement in April 2014 that Russia does not intend to wage wars of conquest and does not want to increase international tension. He also spoke about the absence of Russian troops in Ukraine at that moment. Alafuzoff also argued that ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden , who revealed the truth about the unseemly affairs of this institution, although he betrayed his employer, is a “true idealist” who sincerely wanted to fight injustice. This turned out to be enough. Rear Admiral in the dock In general, Georgy Alafuzoff has repeatedly expressed statements that Finland has no reason to fear Russia. The high-ranking intelligence officer ardently advocated international detente - and he himself was personally ready to work on it. So, on October 30, 2018, he participated in the Ogarkov Readings conference held in Moscow. There, Alafuzoff said that the West perceives the events in Ukraine as a “Russian hybrid operation” and fears its spread to the Baltic states. “And of course, Finland and Sweden, which are not NATO members, will be one of the targets of those hybrid actions that Russia may take, ” Alafuzoff said about the fears that existed in Helsinki. But he also said that he also understands Russian concerns related to the actions of the West. Alafuzoff also warned about hybrid threats that have emerged recently. “In the context of the existing regulatory and legal uncertainty associated with hybrid military conflicts, one can expect that pretexts introduced by British diplomacy like “ Highly Likely ” and the absence of other plausible explanations will be used to justify specific military-political decisions. This increases the threat of a large-scale conflict due to misreading of the parties’ intentions, legal and terminological uncertainty,” Alafuzoff said in 2018. Now, five years later, these words sound prophetic. It is possible that such seditious statements, coupled with his Russian origin and surname, brought suspicion on the rear admiral from the Finnish “patriots”, who are always ready to see the next “machinations of Moscow’s agents.” However, on December 22, 2022, it became known that the prosecutor’s office decided to dismiss the case against Georgy Alafuzoff. It was announced that a “good understanding of how the information came into the hands of third parties ” had been obtained - and Alafuzoff was not involved. However, they didn’t just leave him alone. Spy mania in Finland. Anyone can be a spy In February 2023, a new case was opened against him - now Alafuzoff is accused of “ illegal storage and processing of classified information .” They want to put pressure on Alafuzoff by any means so that his example becomes a lesson to other people who sympathize with Russia. In October of this year, it was reported that Alafuzoff's trial had ended at the Helsinki Court of Justice. During the trial, the prosecution strengthened its demand: the prosecutor asks that the retired rear admiral be sentenced to real imprisonment - for at least two years. If the court decides on a shorter prison term, then, in the opinion of the prosecutor, this term should also be realistic. During the court hearings, it was repeatedly said that Alafuzoff was “accused of committing serious crimes in office.” It is alleged that he kept a “significant amount” of confidential documents at his home, some of which were classified as highly classified. The prosecution points out that the relevant files were discovered during a search of Alafuzoff's house on his computers, external drives, memory cards and in paper form. The alleged “crimes” were committed between 2005 and 2016, when Georgi Alafuzoff first served as Deputy Chief of the Finnish General Staff, then Chief of Intelligence of the Defense Forces and finally Chief of Intelligence of the EU Military Staff. He himself denies these accusations. The court is due to render its verdict by the end of this year. The triumph of spymania Currently, spy mania is becoming increasingly rampant in Finland . The Finnish press now constantly writes about how, they say, some dubious entities are hanging around transformer substations, about “suspicious people, cars with foreign license plates and drones” being spotted here and there, about constant cyber attacks and data thefts. “Great, just great. Everything is according to the classics of the 20th century. Spies are all around. This despite the fact that there are really no specifics. I need to stop walking around my city in Budenovka …” writes left-wing blogger Alexander Kommari, who lives in Finland, with bitter sarcasm. Just a few days ago, the Finnish press and politicians were intensively promoting the “Russian trace” in the case of damage to the Balticconnector underwater gas pipeline. Then, however, it turned out that, apparently, this emergency was not the result of malicious intent, but of unintentional damage to the pipeline by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship. The cries about a “deliberate Russian attack on Finland” temporarily subsided. But there is no doubt that they will soon resume - as soon as a new more or less suitable reason is found. Seeing this, retired Rear Admiral Georgy Alafuzoff must gnash his teeth in despondency - his worst nightmares are coming true. |
| Posted by:badanov |