MTV journalist charged with aiding secrecy offence

MTV crime reporter Rebekka Härkönen has been charged with aiding the disclosure of confidential information in a case reportedly linked to an alleged leak to a notorious crime boss, Yle reports.

Suomen Kuvalehti reported on Friday that Härkönen was suspected of acting as an intermediary when information from an ongoing National Bureau of Investigation drug probe was allegedly passed to Swedish crime leader Ismail “Mansikka” Abdo.

Yle has confirmed that charges were filed in Pirkanmaa District Court in September against Härkönen and two men. A 46-year-old man is charged with a secrecy offence, while Härkönen and a 27-year-old man are charged with aiding that offence. The court says details will remain confidential until the charges are read in court. No hearing date has been set.

Special prosecutor Perttu Könönen confirmed to Yle that he had brought the charges but did not comment on their content. Härkönen denied wrongdoing in a text message to Yle and said the case was ongoing. She declined to comment further, referring to what she had told Suomen Kuvalehti.

According to Suomen Kuvalehti, the alleged offence took place in October or November 2024 and came to light during a drug investigation linked to Abdo. The magazine reported that Härkönen invoked source protection when asked about the suspicion.

The other defendant, Toni Iinatti, was a significant figure in a criminal network that police suspect was led by Abdo. Police say Iinatti arranged drug deliveries from Sweden and helped distribute drugs in the Tampere region and Ostrobothnia in 2024. The Turku Court of Appeal sentenced him to more than 12 years in prison for, among other offences, aggravated drug crimes.

Abdo is known as the leader of the Rumba criminal network, which broke away from the Foxtrot organisation. He is suspected in Sweden of aggravated drug offences and inciting serious violent crimes. A Helsinki court ordered him detained in absentia in October 2025 on suspicion of two aggravated drug offences in Finland. He is currently in custody in Turkey.

A secrecy offence involves disclosing confidential information obtained through a person’s position or duties, or using such information for personal or another person’s benefit. It is punishable by a fine or up to one year in prison. Yle said it was publishing Härkönen’s name at the charge stage because of the case’s suspected links to organised crime and its potential significance for freedom of speech. It also noted that she is a well-known and award-winning journalist.