Tiitinen list

Last updated

The Tiitinen list is a Finnish classified government document which was given by West German Intelligence Service to the Finnish Security Police (Supo) in 1990. The list consists of the names of 18 persons [1] who are suspected to have been in contact with the East German security service Stasi. [2] The people are popularly described as having been suspected of spying for the Eastern Bloc. The list is named after Seppo Tiitinen, who was the head of Supo in 1990. [2]

A copy of the list has been requested by journalist Susanna Reinboth and, in 2008, Supo was ordered to disclose the list by the Helsinki administrative court. In 2010, the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of Finland. [2]

One major argument in keeping the list classified has been that it only specifies individuals who have allegedly been in contact with Stasi, but not the nature of the contact. Therefore being on the list would not constitute proof of or even indicate breaking any Finnish laws. Consequently it was chosen not to shame potentially innocent persons in the media. Supo also argued that the release of the list could endanger national security and its ability to cooperate with partners abroad hence Researcher Kimmo Elo, who had asked for the list and granted permission to study material related to Finnish-GDR relations during the Cold War, would be denied the list itself. [3]

In October 2010, Julian Assange said in an interview that WikiLeaks had received a set of eight documents making up the Tiitinen list, and that it was to be published by the website pending a factual review. The list is "one of the most sought-after documents that Wikileaks has", according to Assange. [4]

Related Research Articles

Cryptome is an online library and 501(c)(3) private foundation created in 1996 by John Young and Deborah Natsios and closed in 2023. The site collected information about freedom of expression, privacy, cryptography, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and government secrecy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Intelligence Service</span> Foreign intelligence agency of Germany

The Federal Intelligence Service is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries. In 2016, it employed around 6,500 people; 10% of them are military personnel who are formally employed by the Office for Military Sciences. The BND is the largest agency of the German Intelligence Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish Security and Intelligence Service</span> National security and intelligence agency of Finland

The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, formerly the Finnish Security Police and Finnish Security Intelligence Service, is the security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The agency had a distinct role during the Cold War in monitoring communists as well as in the balance between Finnish independence and Soviet appeasement. After the 1990s, Supo has focused more on countering terrorism and in the 2010s, on preventing hybrid operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WikiLeaks</span> News leak publishing organisation

WikiLeaks is a media organisation and publisher founded in 2006. It operates as a non-profit and is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded by Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist, who is currently challenging extradition to the United States over his work with WikiLeaks. Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief. Its website states that it has released more than ten million documents and associated analyses. WikiLeaks' most recent publication was in 2021, and its most recent publication of original documents was in 2019. Beginning in November 2022, many of the documents on the organisation's website could not be accessed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Appelbaum</span> American computer security researcher and journalist (born 1 April 1983)

Jacob Appelbaum is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, artist, and hacker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpo Rusi</span>

Alpo Rusi served in the Foreign Ministry of Finland in several assignments, and from 1994 to 1999 as foreign policy adviser to the President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari. He also served as EU Coordinator for the Sarajevo Summit 1999 and deputy Coordinator of the Stability Pact for Western Balkans in 1999–2000. He worked as professor of International Relations, 2000–2003, at Lapland University and in Hamburg. Later on 2007-2009 he was senior adviser in the Cabinet staff of the President of the UN General Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jukka Rusi</span>

Jukka Rusi (1935–2004) was a TV journalist and the press secretary of the government of Finland from 1968 to 73. He is best known for supplying both East Germany and the Soviet Union with Finnish documents from 1973 to 1977, as he confessed. His Stasi code was XV/11/69.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Assange</span> Australian editor, publisher, and activist, founder of WikiLeaks (born 1971)

Julian Paul Assange is an Australian computer programmer, editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to wide international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning: footage of a US airstrike in Baghdad, US military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and US diplomatic cables.

The Afghan War documents leak, also called the Afghan War Diary, is the disclosure of a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan, which were published by WikiLeaks on 25 July 2010. The logs consist of over 91,000 Afghan War documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. Most of the documents are classified secret. As of 28 July 2010, only 75,000 of the documents have been released to the public, a move which WikiLeaks says is "part of a harm minimization process demanded by [the] source". Prior to releasing the initial 75,000 documents, WikiLeaks made the logs available to The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel in its German and English online edition, which published reports in line with an agreement made earlier the same day, 25 July 2010.

The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. Dated between December 1966 and February 2010, the cables contain diplomatic analysis from world leaders, and the diplomats' assessment of host countries and their officials.

WikiLeaks began publishing the United States diplomatic cables leak on 28 November 2010. The documents included classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. The cables were dated between December 1966 and February 2010, and contained assessments of host countries and their officials. The publication of the cables produced varying responses around the world.

<i>WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy</i> Book by David Leigh and Luke Harding

WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy is a 2011 book by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding. It is an account of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the leak by Chelsea Manning of classified material to the website in 2010. It was published by Guardian Books in February 2011.

WikiLeaks, a whistleblowing website founded by Julian Assange, has received praise as well as criticism from the public, hacktivists, journalist organisations and government officials. The organisation has revealed human rights abuses and was the target of an alleged "cyber war". Allegations have been made that Wikileaks worked with or was exploited by the Russian government and acted in a partisan manner during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

<i>Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority</i> Legal proceedings over extraditing Julian Assange to Sweden

Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority were the set of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom concerning the requested extradition of Julian Assange to Sweden for a "preliminary investigation" into accusations of sexual offences allegedly made in August 2010. Assange left Sweden in September 2010 and was arrested in his absence the same day. He was suspected of rape of a lesser degree, unlawful coercion and multiple cases of sexual molestation. In June 2012, Assange breached bail and sought refuge at Ecuador's Embassy in London and was granted asylum.

United States v. Manning was the court-martial of former United States Army Private First Class, Chelsea Manning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global surveillance and journalism</span>

Global surveillance and journalism is a subject covering journalism or reporting of governmental espionage, which gained worldwide attention after the Global surveillance disclosures of 2013 that resulted from Edward Snowden's leaks. Since 2013, many leaks have emerged from different government departments in the US, which confirm that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on US citizens and foreign enemies alike. Journalists were attacked for publishing the leaks and were regarded in the same light as the whistleblowers who gave them the information. Subsequently, the US government made arrests, raising concerns about the freedom of the press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigurdur Thordarson</span> Icelandic hacker, informant and criminal

Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, commonly known as Siggi hakkari, is an Icelandic convicted criminal and FBI informant against WikiLeaks. He is known for information leaks, multiple cases of fraud and embezzlement, sexual solicitation of minors and adults. He has multiple convictions for sexual offences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vault 7</span> CIA files on cyber war and surveillance

Vault 7 is a series of documents that WikiLeaks began to publish on 7 March 2017, detailing the activities and capabilities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The files, dating from 2013 to 2016, include details on the agency's software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs, web browsers, and the operating systems of most smartphones, as well as other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. A CIA internal audit identified 91 malware tools out of more than 500 tools in use in 2016 being compromised by the release. The tools were developed by the Operations Support Branch of the C.I.A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indictment and arrest of Julian Assange</span>

In 2012, while on bail Julian Assange was granted political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he sought to avoid extradition to Sweden, and what his supporters said was the possibility of subsequent extradition to the US. On 11 April 2019, Ecuador revoked his asylum, he was arrested for failing to appear in court, and carried out of the Embassy by members of the London Metropolitan Police. Following his arrest, the US revealed a previously sealed 2018 US indictment in which Assange was charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to his involvement with Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks.

References

Notes
  1. Happonen, Päivi (12 May 2010). "KHO: Tiitisen lista pysyy salaisena". yle.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Sakki, Pekka (12 May 2010). "Stasi list to remain under lock and key -Finnish court". Helsinki Times . Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  3. "Supo: Cold War Stasi list to remain sealed despite researcher's request". News. 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  4. Aula, Leena Maria (28 October 2010). "Wikileaks turns its attention to the Tiitinen list". Helsinki Times . Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
General references