Abderrahman Bouanane was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of two women and injuring eight others (Picture: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/AFP/Getty)
A frenzied stabbing spree by a failed asylum seeker left Finland reeling and became the country’s first Islamist terror attack.
It came out of the blue Turku, a picturesque city famed for its medieval fortress and cobbled streets in the southwest of the Nordic country of 5.5 million people.
A peaceful summer afternoon was brought to a horrific end when Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan citizen and a failed asylum seeker, went on a murderous rampage on the main square of Turku on August 18, 2017.
Armed with two kitchen knives, Bouanane’s targets were mainly women.
Two people died and eight others were injured before he was shot by special forces, bringing to an end an unprecedented crime that stunned a quiet Scandinavian nation.
But through the horror of the attack shone the bravery of ordinary people — everyday heroes, including a British paramedic who was repeatedly stabbed while helping victims to escape.
Hassan Zubier, 45, from Dartford in Kent, said at the time: ‘I am not a hero. I did what I was trained for.’
Injured victim Hassan Zubier (centre) attended the trial of Abderrahman Bouanane (Picture: (Picture: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/AFP/Getty)
A day of horror
Bouanane had planned to attack a soldier at a bus station, but changed his target as people approached.
Instead, he headed for the market square in central Turku, where he first stabbed a 31-year-old woman, a Jehova’s Witness, who later died of her injuries.
His next victim was Hassan Zubier, a British paramedic who lives in Sweden. Zubier
Zubier was on holiday with his girlfriend when they were caught up in the attack, with the paramedic intervening to help an injured woman. Her injuries were so severe that the woman died in his arms.
Zubier suffered life-changing injuries to his spine and was confined to a wheelchair, but told the Guardian from his hospital bed that he was simply a ‘human being who cares for other human beings’.
People left candles and flowers at the makeshift memorial for the victims day after the attack (Picture: Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty)
Unhindered, Bouanane went on to stab a man who had come to help and six more women, including an Italian woman pushing a pram with a baby girl inside.
Eventually, the police stopped Bouanane by shooting him in the thigh.
While his victims were chosen at random, Finland’s public broadcaster Yle reported that Bouanane may have selected women in particular, because the only men he stabbed were those who had come to help.
Eyewitnesses described Bouanane’s behaviour during the attacks as confused and furious, as he moved through two blocks in the city centre.
One woman, who did not want to be named, said she saw Bouanane carrying a bloodied knife while shouting ‘Allahu akbar,’ which the suspect confirmed during his interrogation.
The youngest victim to be injured was a 15-year-old girl. She had come from Syria to Finland as a refugee and knew Bouanane from studying on the same Finnish language course. But Finnish daily Iltalehti reported that Bouanane had not recognised the girl during the stabbing.
Motive for terror
After Bouanane’s arrest, an investigation into his background revealed he had arrived in Finland on fake identity papers.
He had claimed to be a 17-year-old boy called Abderrahman Mechkah when he arrived in 2016, and applied for asylum as an unaccompanied minor.
He reportedly became radicalised in 2017 following a denied asylum application, though the chief investigator denied this was the reason for the stabbing.
Violence in Finland
Compared with international crime rates, Finland is regarded as a safe country, especially when it comes to random acts of violence.
However, experts have raised concerns about domestic abuse and school bullying.
Finland has made international headlines after school shootings – including a fatal incident in early April that killed a 12-year-old girl after her classmate opened fire in a classroom-and familicide.
Last year, there were 12,300 victims of domestic violence, a growth of 5.3% year-on-year. Of those, 3,100 were underage victims – a jump of around 12% from the previous year, according to official figures.
Bouanane ‘wanted to connect his crimes to the terrorist acts by the Islamic State,’ the District Court of Varsinais-Suomi said in a ruling following the atrocity. But the militant group has never claimed responsibility for the Turku attack.
On the day of the attack Bouanane visited a mosque and recorded a video in which he spoke of the US-led air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria.
On the first day of his trial, he was seen smiling in the dock.
The court heard how Bouanane blamed countries in the West for the war and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Syria. He had scribbled in his notes that he wanted to establish an Islamic state in Finland, Ilta-Sanomat reported.
Aftermath of the Turku 2017 stabbing
In the aftermath of the attack, surveillance was ramped up at Finnish airports, and enhanced security measures were implemented across the country.
Politicians called for tighter immigration rules, and Parliament was told to fast-track a bill giving authorities permission to monitor citizens online.
The following day, Antti Peltari, head of the Finnish security and intelligence service Supo, said the country was ‘for the first time in a situation where an act of terrorism can be suspected.’
Unnamed sources who knew Bouanane at the reception centre he lived at said they had warned its leadership in January 2017 – seven months before the attack – about his interest in the Islamic State, as well as threatening behaviour and drug use, Yle reported.
Abderrahman Bouanane (centre) at the start of his trial following the terrorist attack (Picture: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/AFP/Getty)
Several people who knew Bouanane said they were certain he did not plan the attack alone.
However, a week after the stabbing and following other arrests and the subsequent release of several individuals, police announced they did not believe the attack had been planned by Islamic State or any group.
Bouanane was found to have acted in full mental capacity and been aware of his actions, although he later claimed he could not control himself. During a psychological assessment, he was diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for two counts of murder with terrorist intent and eight counts of attempted murder. A life sentence in Finland is at least 12 years in prison.
Right-wing extremists in Finland attempted to coopt the attack to fuel anti-migrant hatred, but a march staged in Turku on the first anniversary was met with counter-protesters campaigning for refugee rights.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.