A trial against a renowned Finnish human rights activist and businessman Mikael Storsjo and a Turkish citizen Denis Berkat (formerly, Abdulhamid Mechiyev) started in a Finnish town of Vantaa.

A trial against a renowned Finnish human rights activist and businessman Mikael Storsjo and a Turkish citizen Denis Berkat (formerly, Abdulhamid Mechiyev) started in a Finnish town of Vantaa.
 
They are accused of helping about 20 Chechen refugees, who later received political asylum, to come illegally to Finland.
 
Mikael Storsjo said he was acting on humanitarian reasons, did not receive any material gain from his actions, and was not associated with any criminal group, but only with Amnesty International, which is not criminal.
 
To the objection by the prosecutor that he received moral benefits in the form of his promotion as a defender of human rights, Storsjo said that on the contrary, he gets now only death threats as a moral compensation.
 
Storsjo bought air tickets for Chechens from Turkey to St Petersburg via Helsinki. The refugees remained in Helsinki, where all of them were later granted political asylum in Finland. The court is to decide if this method of migration violates the law.
 
The process is conducted in Swedish, the second official language of Finland, because Mikael Storsjo is a Swedish-speaker.
 
The prosecutor demanded a jail term. Mikael Storsjo, in turn, petitioned the court to summon as witnesses for his defense of a large number of persons, in particular the deputy chairman of the Commission on Human Rights of the European Parliament, Heidi Hautala. The next court session is scheduled for 9 am on April 15.
 
It is curious that the court was attended by an infamous Putin's pope Molari who openly filmed the participants on video and photo camera.
 
It is to be recalled that the same priest tried to stop the action of Chechen refugees in front of the Russian Embassy in Helsinki on February 23.
 
Approaching the demonstrators, pope Molari switched on a Russian national anthem in full volume from his tape recorder, loudly shouted that he loves Putin and drove his car several times in front of the demonstrators, shouting inarticulate words.
 
Meantime, the human rights activist Mikhail Storsjo was pleased with the first round of the trial. According to him, he considers his case as absolutely clear and hopes for good results at its completion.
 
In the interview Mr. Storsjo gave before his trial to a Finnish newspaper Verkkouutisetm and which was published on Feb. 23, he said:
 
"I think I did nothing else but helping the Finnish government to fulfill its obligations under international agreements regarding the refugees. Moreover, it is easier for political asylum seekers to adapt in a country if they are helped by a mentor from among local residents".
 
The newspaper notes that by the Finnish law it is not a crime to help refugees if they are in danger and if such help is not associated with benefits for the helper.
 
Mr. Storsjo also said that he helped some Chechens to start their businesses in computer repair and IT branches.
 
For his "hobby" of helping the Chechens, he spent 10,000 to 15,000 euros.
 
Mr. Storsjo believes his trial was organized for political reasons to push through the Finnish parliament a law restricting immigration.
 
According to reports by KGB/FSB agents in Finland, Bäckman and Molari, published in Russian media, "Storsjo is the editor-in-chief of a terrorist website Kavkaz Center and supports the leader of Chechen terrorists Dokku Umarov who is living in the mountains of Colorado, U.S. Storsjo raises money for Chechen separatists, and assists them in all possible ways".
  
Meanwhile, it is reported that on February 24, Putin's pope Molari received a SMS with a new summons for police interrogation in his criminal case of malicious slander against Heidi Hautala.
 
In another article also dated February 23, 2011, the same newspaper reports that Mr. Storsjo told it that he did not write articles for the Kavkaz Center. He indicated that he was aware that someone in Finland had been writing articled for the Kavkaz Center, but he did not know who had been doing it:
 
- Many people suspect that it's me, but it's not me.
 
"The security police is interested in the website because it sharply criticizes the Russian government and supports the Chechen struggle. Chechen leader Dokku Umarov said on the website that he had organized an attack on a Moscow airport in January, in which 36 people had been killed", the newspaper writes. 
 
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center