HS 9.6.2009: 

Side comment: Mikael Storsjö is a hero

By Esa Mäkinen

The writer is a cultural journalist at Helsingin Sanomat 

Moral demands courage 

In my books Mikael Storsjö is a hero. The Finnish authorities finds him to be a crook.

     Last week the Frontier Guard announced that they suspect Storsjö for aggravated organising of illegal entry.

     He had sent 15 Chechens by flying from Istanbul to Helsinki, and they had applied for asylum. Storsjö has also earlier brought Chechens to Finland, and they have been granted refuge. 

Moral without deeds is just a collection of polite phrases. According to the law, one has the right to help endangered people, but still few people have the courage to act as Storsjö.

     He floats the authorities using his own name, according to the best traditions of civil disobedience.

     Chechens living in refugee camps or in bad circumstances, for example in Istanbul, don't dear to return to their home country.

     This year only, there has already disappeared 34 people in Chechnya which belongs to Russia, and the human rights organization Memorial says that the situation for a change has moved towards a worse direction.

     People who oppose immigration repeat saying that only white, educated Christians are welcome here, in order to produce us money.

     Fortunately, somebody also thinks about the individuals in distress. 

Storsjö is no saint. The Chechen web pages he maintains and his friends in Chechnya represent the extreme, which also has blood on their hands.

     Storsjö should not dream for a peace award.

     But maybe, those men and women who have got back their lives are for him an acknowledgement enough.