The Final Verdict

The Supreme Court in Finland has upheld the “hate speech” verdict against Jussi Halla-aho, a writer and an MP for the True Finns party.

This farce has dragged on for three and a half years. Longtime readers of this blog are already aware of the horrific injustice that was done to Mr. Halla-aho. Newcomers should check out the archives on his case as listed at the bottom of this post, so that you can see what I mean.

According to Helsingin Sanomat:

Supreme Court finds Finns Party MP Jussi Halla-aho guilty of incitement against an ethnic group

The Finnish Supreme Court on Friday sentenced Finns Party MP Jussi Halla-aho to a fine for violating the free exercise of worship and for incitement against an ethnic group. The conviction is for an article he wrote in his blog in the summer of 2008.

In the blog entry in question Halla-aho described Islam as a paedophile religion. He also wrote that theft and living a parasitic life on tax revenue would be a national, or even a genetic characteristic of Somalis. Helsinki District Court and the Helsinki Court of Appeals had acquitted Halla-aho of the charge of incitement against an ethnic group, but the Supreme Court reversed these acquittals. The Supreme Court found that Halla-aho’s article was vilifying and insulting toward an ethnic group. His statements were seen as likely to raise intolerance, defamation, and possibly even hate.

Finns Party chairman Timo Soini says that the fine imposed on him by the Supreme Court is a sufficient punishment, and that neither the party nor its parliamentary group plan to impose any further punishments on him. “I think that he will have to live with this decision, and the Finns Party will have to live with it, even though he was not a member of the parliamentary group at the time of the act.” He also said that Halla-aho can run as a Finns Party candidate in the upcoming municipal elections.

Previous posts about the persecution of Jussi Halla-aho:

2008		Nov		19		Muzzled in Finland, Part 5
		Dec		3		Smearing Jussi Halla-Aho
				12		The Investigation of Jussi Halla-Aho
				13		Update on Jussi Halla-Aho
2009		Mar		27		Defamation, Blasphemy, and the End of Free Speech in Finland
		Aug		27		The Trial of Jussi Halla-aho
		Sep		8		Free Speech Tried, Convicted, and Fined in Finland
				18		The Finnish Geert Wilders
		Oct		6		Speaking Out for Jussi Halla-Aho
2011		Apr		21		Rabid Injustice

Hat tip: Fjordman.