If there would be two words that define what the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is all about, it would racist bravado. By the way, the PS is no common racist party but a member of the government. It shares power with the Center Party and National Coalition Party, which usually look the other way when the PS has one of its racist fits.
These parties usually look the other way because they too have issues with racism among its ranks.
Disagree about my description of the PS?
PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, whose racist antics we’ve read during the past years, is one of many examples of the type of racist bravado that the populist anti-immigration party spreads.
Apart from the MP’s numerous posts, like gays, Swedish-speaking Finns and Somalis should be sent to the Åland Islands, Hakkarainen reveals his bravado in an interview with Kankaanpään Seutu, where he defies a possible sentence for hate speech.
Hakkarainen wrote in a Facebook posting that “all Muslims aren’t terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. Finland should not accept any Muslims from the Middle East and Africa to Finland,” according to him.
The PS MP is under investigation by the police for hate speech. His bravado is quite evident in Kankaanpään Seutu.
“Bring it on if I get sentenced [for hate speech]. I’ll take care of this in my own way,” he was quoted as saying. “Of course [one should follow the law]. But this [possible sentence for hate speech] is like a speeding ticket. Everything is today seen as hate speech.”
Hate speech is nothing more than a speeding ticket?
Read the full story (in Finnish) here.
Hakkarainen’s bravado not only shows how much disregard an MP of the PS has for cultural diversity, but how toothless the law is when it comes to challenging such a social ill.
Imagine, during 2009-2014, only 27 people have been sentenced for ethnic agitation, according to MTV, which cites Statistics Finland.
The greatest number of sentences for ethnic agitation were given in 2012, which was 12.
Yes, Hakkarainen is right: Hate speech in Finland is like getting a speeding ticket.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We, therefore, prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings. The direct translation of “Perussuomalaiset” is “basic” or “fundamental Finn.”