1930 kidnapping of former Finnish President Ståhlberg and his wife by far-right radicals
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The plan was spearheaded by ex-White Guard general Kurt Martti Wallenius. The kidnappers threatened to execute both hostages if their demands were not met, but were ultimately hesitant to carry out the threat.[2] The pair were taken by car to Joensuu in Eastern Finland, where they were abruptly set free after the kidnappers failed to meet up with other accomplices.[3]
In December 1930, Wallenius and Eero Kuussaari were found guilty of the kidnapping and sentenced to 3 years of penal servitude and dismissal from the army.[4]
The incident greatly eroded the already dwindling popular support for the Lapua Movement.[2] The kidnapping was also considered decisive in the victory of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud against Ståhlberg in the 1931 presidential election.[1] After the kidnapping, the Lapuans again threatened to assassinate Ståhlberg.[5]
Reaction
The abduction was widely covered in foreign newspapers.
^Jalava, Marja (2023). "7: Finland". In Clark, Roland; Grady, Timothy L. (eds.). European fascist movements: a sourcebook (1st ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 141–160. ISBN9780429292378. Retrieved 7 November 2023. When the time was getting on to two o'clock in the morning, the car arrived in the outskirts of Joensuu, where it stopped and the men said that another car was soon supposed to arrive, and that the Ståhlberg couple had to continue the journey in it. The men then drove back and forth in Joensuu for about an hour, but when the other car did not appear, two men finally got out of the car to look for this long- awaited vehicle. The third man stayed in the car to guard the Ståhlberg couple. The waiting continued, but the other car just did not arrive and neither did the two men who had gone to look for it. Then the third man who was guarding the Ståhlbergs announced that Ståhlberg and his wife could get out of the car. After they had done so, the car immediately drove away, but neither of them noticed in which direction it went.
