For Independence

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For Independence was a right‑wing political group in Finland during the 1970s and 1980s. It fought against Soviet influence in Finland, opposed President Urho Kekkonen’s policy, and disliked socialism.

Formation and activity
- The group started in Helsinki in the autumn of 1971 and was registered in April 1972. It later opened branches in Lahti, Tampere, Turku, and Vaasa.
- Kauko Kare, a publisher, was the first president and a key organizer. Around 1968 he helped form a group called the Thursday Club, which published a magazine called Nootti.
- For Independence brought together right‑wing critics of President Kekkonen. Some founders later joined the Constitutional Right Party (POP). Well‑known far‑right figures such as Tuure Junnila and Georg C. Ehrnrooth spoke at its events.
- The group was not a single political party. Its board included politicians from different parties who opposed Soviet influence.

Leadership and alliances
- In autumn 1974, a national umbrella group named Popular Association For Independence was created, with Heikki S. Eskelinen as chairman. He later became head of the Helsinki chapter.
- Under Eskelinen, the organization built ties with other anti‑communist groups, such as the Finnish Society Support (SYT) and the Business Commission (EVA).
- In 1977, For Independence published a pamphlet called “Beware of the Revolution,” with more than 30,000 copies distributed through SYT.
- The group supported parliamentary democracy but included several far‑right activists, including historian Mikko Uola.
- It also connected with the Independent Finnish Youth (SIN), a youth group that had roots in the Patriotic National Movement (IKL) and links to the neo‑Nazi Nordic Realm Party (NRP).

Estonian and international links
- In the 1980s, For Independence supported Estonian independence by sharing information and inviting Estonian speakers.
- It joined the World Anti‑Communist League, an international network of anti‑communist groups.

End of activity and a spy case
- The organization stopped being active after the Cold War ended.
- Its leader, Heikki Eskelinen, and secretary Pertti Olavi Riutta became involved in a spy case in the early 1980s.
- Riutta, a first lieutenant, founded a secret group called North Star in 1978. It aimed to be a resistance movement if the Soviet Union occupied Finland and recruited some members from For Independence. Riutta stole guns, grenades, and explosives from the Finnish Defense Forces for North Star.
- Eskelinen and Riutta provided information about the Soviet Union to French intelligence in exchange for printing the Swiss Total Resistance manual in Finnish.
- The Finnish Security Intelligence Service investigated the case; Eskelinen and Riutta were arrested in April 1982, and about a dozen others were questioned.
- In March 1984, the Supreme Court sentenced Riutta and Eskelinen to prison for espionage for France and for firearm and explosive offences.