Is it a coincidence that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth leader Sebastian Tynkkynen wants to make hate speech possible by doing away with laws that prohibit it? Is it a coincidence that he states openly and publicly, like PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, that Finland should rid itself of Muslims?
PS Youth put out a statement a day before the fifth anniversary of the mass killings in Norway by Anders Breivik that asks those punishable offenses like ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion should be stricken off the penal code.
Not only has the PS remained silent and in holiday mode in the face of what Tynkkynen and Hakkarainen said, but there’s been total silence as well from the leaders of the Center Party and National Coalition Party.
Considering that the 77 deaths committed by Breivik in 2011 were and still are the worst case of terrorism to strike the Nordic region, it is shocking how rapidly we have forgotten and allowed hate speech, racism, and bigotry to grow in the past five years.
The monument at Utøya island in Norway to the victims of 22/7. Source: designboom.
Even if many have forgotten what happened on 22/7 and would care less about hate speech, we and many others haven’t forgotten.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We, therefore, prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings. The direct translation of “Perussuomalaiset” is “basic” or “fundamental Finn.”