Since the Helsingin Sanomat won’t publish what he wrote, the reader is completely in the dark as to what was actually written, so why bother reporting on the story at all?
The law of “incitement of an ethnic group is anti-free speech, and regardless of the insensitivity, crudeness of the comments, they shouldn’t be a punishable offense. According to American standards, only calls for immediate violence, or smearing an individual with baseless accusations, with the intent to cause financial harm is to be punished.
Former anchor and Espoo Municipal Secretary Seppo Huhta was charged with incitement of an ethnic group
The accusation is based on the views expressed on Huhta’s public Facebook page, where he has been accused of insulting Somalis and Muslims because of their race, national or ethnic origin and religion.
Huhta denied the entire charge. The prosecuting District Prosecutor Heikki Kohijoki is demanding Huhta to pay a financial penalty of at least 60 euros in daily fines. Huhta, who had moved from the Finns party to Blue Reform, was formerly a member of the Espoo Council and sat at the City Board. Huhta fell from the council in previous municipal elections. He was a candidate for the Coalition in 2004 at the European elections and a candidate for Finns party in 2011 parliamentary elections.
