Bias Motive |
Groups |
Key facts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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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