Due process takes a long time in Finland as the landmark Johanna Vehkoo against far-right agitator Junnes Lokka, whom she called in a Facebook “a Nazi clown” and “a racist.” Surprisingly, a Rovaniemi appeal court upheld a prior Oulu district court ruling that Vehkoo had defamed Lokka.
Today’s ruling by the supreme court dismissed the prior ruling by the appeal and district courts.
“The supreme court ruling is important because members of Finland’s far-right and Islamophobic groups can also be criticized and fall under scrutiny. Moreover, the ruling reveals that some courts are not up to speed on racism and the threat of the far-right.”
Lokka’s case, if the supreme court had upheld the prior rulings, would have made it difficult to criticize politicians who use racism to advance their political aims.
While the Oulu appeal court ruled against Vehkoo because her comments were against Lokka’s person, the supreme court took a different view.
“In view of the derogatory and hostile statements made by Lokka in public, the terms used in the [Facebook post] text are not considered to have gone beyond what could be considered acceptable,” reported Yle News, citing the KKO stated in its judgment.
Timo Soini kirjoitti blogissaan 20.9.2015 otsikon ”Maahanmuuttolinja kiristyy huomattavasti” alle seuraavasti: ”Perussuomalaiset ovat jo vuosia varoittaneet sekä moraalittomasta europolitiikasta ja löperöstä maahanmuuttopolitiikasta Euroopassa, myös Suomessa. Minua, EU-politiikasta ja Jussi Halla-ahoa maahanmuuttopolitiikasta, on arvosteltu rajusti. Vääriksi väitteitämme ei ole todistettu”.
Timo Soini blogissaan 20.9.2015
Tuohon päivään mennessä perussuomalaisten rasistinen ja uusfasistinen henki oli jo moneen kertaan pulpahtanut pintaan, tankit oli lähetetty Kreikan kaduille, rikostutkintoja ja tuomioita kansanryhmää vastaan kiihottamisesta oli ollut useita ja Facebookiin perustettu ryhmä: Perussuomalaisista erotetut. Kaikki me tiesimme, että perussuomalaisista erottaminen tapahtui vain silloin, jos rasistinen möläyttely oli niin törkeää, että siitä nousi sosiaalisessa mediassa riittävän suuri kauhistelu tai perussuomalainen ei osannut tilanteessa olla riittävän nöyrää poikaa johdon suuntaan. Tuomio kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan ei ole ollut riittävä syy.
Turvapaikanhakijoiden mustamaalaaminen oli ja on määräävä osa perussuomalaisten toimintaa. Se pitää vain osata tehdä riittävän hillitysti. Riikka Purrakaan ei siihen kykene, vaikka media on hehkuttanut perussuomalaisten nyt hänen johdollaan sopivan entistä paremmin hillittyä rasismia suosivan kokoomuksen hallituskumppaniksi.
Riikka Purra Twitterissä 2.1.2020
Kun nyt turtiaislaiset ovat päässeet median huomion kohteeksi, on syytä muistuttaa, että Ano Turtiainen ja hänen sihteerinsä eduskunnassa, James Hirvisaari, ovat molemmat näitä perussuomalaisista erotettuja tai ”eronneita” ja he jatkavat perussuomalaisen politiikan tekemistä. Hommaforumilla sovittiin jo aikojen alussa, että yhteiselle asialle kelpaavat myös kokoomuslaiset rasistit ja kaikki, jotka ilmaisevat halunsa ”islamin invaasion” estämiseen. Hirvisaari oli Soinin mukaan ”itseohjautuva” ja Turtiainen nousi julkisesti Mestaria vastaan.
Suomalainen media ei vieläkään, toisin kuin vaikkapa ruotsalaiset, pidä perussuomalaista puoluetta rasistisena eikä ota puoluejohtoa kunnolla kiinni puolueessa ilmenevästä rasismista. Törkeimmätkin rasistisen retoriikan käyttäjät ohitetaan olankohautuksella. Ano Turtiaisen hörhöilystä voitiin nyt tehdä kunnon paljastusartikkeli Helsingin Sanomiin, kun siinä ei loukata paria suurta eduskuntapuoluetta, niiden rahoittajia ja vaalikansaa. On muka kysymys pienestä hörhöjoukkiosta, vaarallisesta, mutta ei kunniallisiin rasisteihin kuuluvasta.
Kun vain äänestäjät huomaisivat sen, että samalla edistetään Perussuomalaiset rp:n rasistista politiikkaa. Perussuomalaiset ovat Timo Soinin ja Jussi Halla-ahon johdolla jo päässeet ensimmäiseen tavoitteeseensa: rasistinen puhe on arkipäiväistetty. Hyvin nopeasti se johtaa siihen, että se on totta. Siitä ei sitten olekaan enää pitkä matka väkivaltaisuuksiin.
One of the children of the Iraqi family of nine looks outside her barred and barb-wired window from the Joutseno immigration removal center. Source: Migrant Tales and Iltalehti.
After creating a big commotion in December about uncovering Finland’s first far-right terrorist cell, the Stakunta District Court ordered the release of four of the suspects on Wednesday, according to Yle News. One of the suspects was released last month.
Even if the police consider the arrest of the suspects as the “first” far-right cell, it all depends on how you define terrorism. Several arson attacks, even a sitting MP (Ano Turtiainen), were carried out even encouraged against asylum reception centers in 2015.
Perussuomalaiset* Kankaanpää councillor Teuvo Roskala was elated by the release of the four terrorist suspects. He compared it with Finland’s first ice hockey world championship in 1995 and asked on Facebook to celebrate at the marketplace. Roskala took down the post after Helsingin Sanomat approached him. Source: Helsingin Sanomat
The four terrorist suspects were released on a technicality.
Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Veikko Vallin gives us a lesson in racism by definIslamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Veikko Vallin teaches us racism by defining “harmful” and beneficial migration. Vallin, who likes being called the Tampere’s Trump and boasts about how he places his money in Estonia from the Finnish tax person, bases his political program on hatred for asylum seekers, especially Muslims.
The PS is the only party in parliament that labels migrants as “harmful.”
Vallin is the last person you should listen to concerning ethnic relations.
He Tweets:
“The difference between harmful and beneficial migration? Harmful migration is a drain on the public sector, while beneficial migration generates tax revenues. Among others, beneficial migrants find employment as gardeners.”
What is wrong with this tweet?
It is racist because it generalizes and debates migration as a simple, 1 + 1 = 2 phenomenon.
As we return to that horrible day of January 6, when former President Donald Trump supporters invaded the Capitol and whacked the foundations of US democracy, we should ask how much of a blow that infamous day was for our democracy in the EU and Finland.
The bad news is that matters in the US will get much worse before they improve. As everyone should know, racism, fear, and political greed by autocrats to the US’ growing diversity is at the heart of the January 6 violence.
Insurrection? Coup attempt? Tour guide? Source: Washington Post
Apart from racism, capitalism and the smell of money have enticed the country to flirt with a right-wing dictatorship.
Certainly, exceptionalism and the blindspot to enforce adequate checks and balances is one of the main culprits. It comes in the form of denial and burying your head deep in your colon.
Can the same happen in Europe, in Finland?
All we have to do is turn the clock back 89 years to the rise of Adolf Hitler and his vehemently anti-Semitic and racist government that led to a global war that killed tens of millions of people.
Like Hitler, Trump was also considered a joke. Few, during the 2016 presidential primaries, thought he could win the election.
Hitler’s fuel was the unfair Versaille Treaty, anti-Semitism, and racism. Scapegoating the blame on minorities paved the way to Nazi power.
I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.
James Baldwin
If some scholars sound the alarm bells that democracy in the United States could turn into a right-wing dictatorship that has the potential of sparking a civil war. How should Finland prepare for such an eventuality?
Writes Thomas Homer-Dixon, a Canadian political scientist, in an Op-Ed: “By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship.”
The European think tank, among others, label the United States as a “backsliding democracy” in a new report.
While former US President Donald Trump has spread the big lie about the 2020 election that has turned the Republican Party into a personality cult, it is a different story in Finland even if the threat is the same.
While it should be clear that a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, which is eager to strip minorities of their human rights and relegate them to second- or third-class citizens, the party is the best example of Trumpism in Finland.
The PS has not made its admiration for Trump a secret. Former PS leader Jussi Halla-aho – like other PS politicians – do not hold back their admiration for Trump and his racist and autocratic political message.
Jussi Halla-aho has backtracked on his 2019 claim that he digs Trump and is the best thing that has happened to the United States and to the West in a long time. Source: Twitter
Like the United States, Finland has seen its society become ever-polarized thanks to the politics of the PS and its enablers, which undermine our Nordic political institutions. If Trump’s big lie is the “stolen” election, which Joe Biden won hands down, in Finland, it is immigration and other populist soundbites.
The European Islamophobia Report 2020 was published on December 29. Below is the Finland chapter of the report. The editors for the report are Dr. Enes Bayrakli and Dr. Farid Hafez.
While the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin has tried to roll back some of the draconian immigration law measures of the previous government, Islamophobia continues to be an obstacle in treating Muslims and other minorities as equal members of society.
The big question will be the 2023 parliamentary elections and if the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), which is flirting with the far-right Finns Party (PS), will emerge – as recent opinion polls suggest – as the winner and form the country’s next government.
The actions and messages of Kokoomus are a cause for genuine concern for Finland’s culturally diverse community, especially Muslims.
In Finland, officials are quick to remind newcomers about gender equality, but too little is mentioned about equity for everyone irrespective of their background. Finding a job is part of the integration program, but too little is mentioned about discrimination at work and in the labor market. Due process still takes too long, and there are big questions about how seriously Finland sees institutional racism, the rise of fascism, and other social ills like hate speech.
Ensuring that Finland is not a hostile place to minorities is paramount and ensures that social ills like Islamophobia will not undermine the country’s democratic institutions.
The mother of eighteen-year-old Keyse Abdifatah Maalesh, stabbed to death at Kannelmäki Helsinki railway station on April 26, 2020, by a white Finn called Miro Pesonen, is appealing the involuntary manslaughter ruling on September 7, 2020, by the Helsinki District Court.
The mother who said that she had not found the energy to pursue the case because of health issues, believed that the Court of Appeal would decide on their appeal “soon.”
Keyse Abdifatah Maalesh was stabbed and killed on April 26 at the Kanneläki train station of Helsinki. The police did not consider the death a hate crime.Source: Facebook
She added that at the time of the death of her son, she felt abandoned by the authorities, the Somali and foreign community.
“I was all alone,” she added. “I felt abandoned by the authorities, the Somali and foreign community.”
“We appealed the decision of the Helsinki District Court and are hoping to raise the conviction to 9-10 years from 5 years now,” she added.
Europe’s most comprehensive report on Islamophobia will be published on 29 December.
“Considering the scant political, economic, and social power that Muslims enjoy, it’s clear that Islamophobia will not recede for the time being but will grow in Finland.“
