Remember Fares Al-Obaidi, 19, who was chased and violently attacked on Saturday, June 6, by a gang of angry residents of Teuva, a town in Western Finland? Six months have passed since that terrible incident, and no charges have been brought yet against the alleged attackers.
“The fact that I know nothing about my case [and the charges],” said Al-Obaidi, “gives me the impression that what happened to me isn’t important to the police. Those who attacked me are walking freely with no consequences.”
Fares admits that his life changed by the events of early June.
“I no longer feel safe when going outside,” he continued. “I moved to another city [to Espoo from Kristiinankaupunki]. I have to take sleeping pills because I suffer from sleep disorders and have a tough time concentrating at school.”


Fares came to Finland in 2015 like tens of thousands of others fleeing war. He speaks Finnish fluently and attends high school. Even if he left is home country, a former home that is at war with itself for a long time, he never thought he’d experience what he did in Finland.
His ordeal began on a Saturday. Fares was first insulted by a group of residents from the town of Teuva and then chased by two cars on the road. Two other cars blocked the road ahead of him and had no choice but to drive the car into a ditch.
Fares tried to run away from his attackers, but it was to no avail. He was beaten so badly by them that he ended up being taken by an ambulance to a hospital in Seinäjoki.
“I don’t know what will happen to me in the future, but I am waiting for justice,” he concluded.