Perussuomalaiset (PS)* newly elected MP Ano Turtiainen [1] was quoted as saying in Mikkeli-based Länsi-Savo that he has no regrets about publishing in December 2015 a post where he asks people to burn asylum reception centers run by the Red Cross.
Moreover, Turtianen dropped his plea to the Court of Appeal that would have overturned the 2015 conviction that asked people to commit a criminal act. He said he dropped the appeal because he would have had a slim chance of prevailing.
Source: Facebook.
Turtiainen wrote and got convicted for encouraging arson attacks against asylum reception centers. He said that “elimination task [groups]” are essential because they defended Finland’s “independence and security.”
Finland received in 2015 over 30,000 asylum seekers mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Turtiainen showed no remorse for his actions. He said in Länsi-Savo That “I can no longer write in the same style, but I have not changed my opinion [about the Red Cross, which he considered a greedy association].”
There was also bravado in the interview.
“It would be a different matter if I’d be convicted for something else,” he was quoted as saying. “In this group [the Perussuomalaiset] it [the conviction] is a feather in one’s cap.”
MP Ville Tavio, who heads the PS parliamentary group and who has publicly called for closer ties with Marine Le Pen’s Front National, said that each MP is responsible for his actions.
“It is a good matter that this [Turtiainen’s conviction] was known before the election,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat. “The people [voters] didn’t consider it a hindrance to him getting elected.”
Helsingin Sanomat asked Tavio if it was ok if a lawmaker encourages people to break the law.
“Of course it isn’t right,” he said. “I am not now speaking of this case but in general freedom of speech is such an important right that it’s necessary you are precise if you are going to restrict it.”
The MP-elect from Juva (pop. 6,227), a small town in Eastern Finland, received 3,265 votes in the April parliamentary election.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
[1] Ano is a real name in Finland. The equivalent name for women is Anna. The translation of “ano” in Spanish is anus.