Image: Johanna Manu / Yle

Finnish police say they suspect a journalist at the local paper, Turun Sanomat, was the victim of illegal threats and slander after she was deluged with abuse online.

The journalist, Rebekka Härkönen, had written about an asylum seeker who had helped others and chased the perpetrator in the wake of a knife attack in Turku that killed two people and injured eight others.

Her article was criticised by anti-immigrant fake news outlets, and one such article was shared by Finns Party leader Jussi Halla-aho. There followed a flood of abusive and threatening messages sent to Härkönen and published on social media, prompting a weeks-long investigation by the police.

Plentiful material

On Thursday Kimmo Heinonen of the National Bureau of Investigation, who is leading the probe, said that the investigation is now focusing on possible offences of illegal threats and slander.

Heinonen declined to go into more detail about the threats faced by Härkönen. The journalist has been interviewed by the NBI, and officers are processing evidence from social media.

"The material is plentiful and the whole thing is difficult," said Heinonen.

Heinonen estimated that the investigation would be complete in around a month's time.