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Finland Helsinki Court of Appeal (Helsingin hovioikeus/Helsingfors hovrätt) 2019 Finland / Helsinki Court of Appeal / 19/147289, R19/1258
A copy of the decision can be requested from the registry of the Helsinki Court of Appeal.
Race/Ethnicity, Religion Muslims The defendant (A) had quoted on his Twitter account statements which the Supreme Court had found defamatory in a case where a Finnish MP had been convicted of incitement to hatred and breach of the sanctity of religion (KKO:2012:58). The MP had described Islam as “a paedophile religion” and had held that “theft and leading a parasitic life by living off welfare is a national and maybe even genetic characteristic of Somalis”. The defendant A claimed that by quoting the statements on Twitter he… View more
Finland The District Court of Espoo (Espoon käräjäoikeus / Esbo tingsrätt) 2017 Finland / District Court of Espoo / R 16/249 Race/Ethnicity Foreigners The victim was attacked by three men while walking on the street in the city of Espoo. These men were unknown to the victim. The men were shouting racist insults at the victim. The victim was targeted because of his dark skin colour. The three men were convicted of assault. View more
Finland The District Court of Keski-Suomi (Keski-Suomen käräjäoikeus / Mellersta Finlands tingsrätt) 2017 Finland / District Court of Keski-Suomi / R 16/2618 Religion Muslims, Migrants, Refugees & asylum seekers A member of the Finnish Parliament, Teuvo Hakkarainen, published a text in Facebook in which he stated that all terrorists are Muslims. Moreover, he demanded that all Muslims be removed from Finland and their entry into the country must be restricted. Mr. Hakkarainen was convicted of incitement to hatred. View more
Finland The District Court of Oulu (Oulun käräjäoikeus / Uleåborgs tingsrätt) 2017 Finland / District Court of Oulu / R 16/2412 Religion Muslims, Migrants, Refugees & asylum seekers The leader of the Finns Party Youth, Sebastian Tynkkynen, was convicted of incitement to hatred and the breach of the sanctity of religion. In his Facebook-writing, Mr. Tynkkynen demanded that Muslims be rooted out from Finland and stated that every Muslim is a potentially aggressive criminal. View more
Finland The District Court of Keski-Suomi (Keski-Suomen käräjäoikeus / Mellersta Finlands tingsrätt) 2016 Finland / District Court of Keski-Suomi / R 15/3178 Race/Ethnicity Refugees & asylum seekers A couple (A+B) made a video in which B incites their child to violence using a toy monkey which he refers to as a refugee. The video was uploaded to the couple´s public Facebook-pages and to an anti-refugee website. View more
Finland The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal (Itä-Suomen hovioikeus / Östra Finlands hovrätt) 2016 Finland / Eastern Finland Court of Appeal / R 16/28, 16/121898 and Finland / District Court of Kymenlaakso, 15/150275, R 15/1907 (20 November 2015) Race/Ethnicity Refugees & asylum seekers In September 2015, the defendant prepared a petrol bomb and threw it towards an emergency accommodation unit where asylum seekers were staying. The guard and the residents of the unit managed to extinguish the bomb. Another similar bomb was later found at the defendant´s apartment. The District Court of Kymenlaakso convicted the defendant of attempt of criminal mischief on 20 November 2015. The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal concurred with the ruling of the district court and did not change… View more
Finland The District Court of Helsinki (Helsingin käräjäoikeus /Helsingfors tingsrätt) 2015 Finland / District Court of Helsinki / R 15/4669 Religion, Race/Ethnicity Muslims, Foreigners Two men entered into a restaurant at closing time and started insulting and assaulting two restaurants workers. Victim A was hit on the head with a fist and victim B was hit and kicked various times (including kicks to the the victim´s head) and he was also thrown through a glass door. The men were convicted of assault, aggravated assault and other crimes. View more
Finland The District Court of Kymenlaakso 2015 Finland / District Court of Kymenlaakso / 15/150275
R 15/1907
Race/Ethnicity Refugees & asylum seekers In September 2015, a suspect prepared a petrol bomb and threw it towards an emergency accommodation unit where asylum seekers were residing. The guard and the residents of the unit managed to extinguish the bomb. Another similar bomb was later found at suspect's apartment. The suspect had posted an insulting message on his Facebook-page a few days before the criminal act which was presented as evidence in court. Moreover, a witness had heard the perpetrator say (right after he had thrown… View more
Finland The District Court of Northern Karelia (Pohjois-Karjalan Käräjäoikeus/Norra Karelens Tingsrätt) 2013 Finland / District Court of Northern Karelia / R 13/315 Nationality, Race/Ethnicity Black people or of African origin A man was found guilty of incitement to hatred after he published a message on his Facebook page containing insults and slander against Somali nationals, including statements that they live on social welfare benefits and that "they rape women". The prosecution stated that it is not acceptable to spread such views in public. The defendant claimed that the message was a commentary on a news article, and as such, it should not be interpreted out of context. View more
Finland The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal (Itä-Suomen hovioikeus/Östra Finland Hovrätt) 2013 Finland / Eastern Finland Court of Appeal / R 12/492 Nationality, Race/Ethnicity Migrants The Court of Appeal amended the decision by the Disctrict Court of Northern Karelia concerning defendant Ryynänen and increased the severity of the punishment according to the prosecution’s demands. The defendants had posted defamatory statements as messages on a discussion board on the Facebook website. Furthermore, one of the defendants had created the discussion board in question and had titled it “Uncensored discussion on immigration (Lieksa)”. The prosecutor demanded that one of the… View more
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