Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will seek to have Russian war crimes suspect Voislav Torden remanded in custody on Monday.
Torden is suspected of committing an aggravated war crime and other offences in Ukraine. According to the arrest warrant, the suspected crimes were committed in 2014–15 when he was a mercenary with a neo-Nazi group.
According to the District Court of Helsinki, the remand hearing is tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe decided on Friday that a preliminary investigation will be launched into Torden's suspected crimes in Ukraine.
According to Rappe, the criminal suspicions will be investigated in Finland, because according to the Supreme Court, Torden cannot be extradited to Ukraine. Torden, who has also used the name Yan Petrovsky, denies the allegations.
He was detained by Border Guards last summer while trying to leave Finland with a forged passport.
Two previous trials held in Finland for war crimes committed abroad ended in acquittals, largely due to insufficient evidence. The cases were related to atrocities carried out in Iraq, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
