Terrorism: Ekpa loses appeal, Finland court slashes sentence

A Finnish Court of Appeal has lowered pro-Biafran activist Simon Ekpa's prison sentence from six years to four years while keeping his conviction on terrorism charges. The appeal court confirmed Ekpa's guilt of joining a terrorist group and urging crimes for terrorist purposes. Ekpa, who relocated to Finland from Nigeria in 2007, was found to have contributed to a terrorist organization and publicly incited crimes for terrorist reasons, according to the district court.

His charges were tied to his alleged attempts to restore an independent state in southeastern Nigeria, a region that was once independent in the late 1960s. The appeal court reduced his sentence after evaluating the context of Ekpa's actions, noting that while the situation in the Biafra region resembled a civil war, it did not meet the criteria for one.

Ekpa's attorney argued that his involvement in the region's political unrest was not motivated by terrorist intentions. The prosecutor, however, challenged the original six-year sentence, stating it did not sufficiently reflect the severity of his offenses. The ruling is not final and can still be appealed to a higher court.