Indicator history

One is the case of Mr Olavi Mäenpää, a long-term city councillor of Turku. In 2007, Mr Mäenpää was a candidate in the parliamentary elections, and in this role appeared in an election debate on television. During the debate, Mr Mäenpää made slanderous comments on people with African, Middle Eastern and Roma backgrounds. Based on his statements on television, he was prosecuted and found guilty of incitement to ethnic or racial hatred. He was sentenced to a fine, and the verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal. (Helsinki District Court R08/10541 and Helsinki Court of Appeals R09/1218)

In 2010, Mr James Hirvisaari, current Member of Parliament, was prosecuted for incitement to ethnic or racial hatred based on a text he had written for the on-line magazine Uusi Suomi. Mr Hirvisaari was accused of slanderous comments about Muslims. The charges were dismissed in district court, but upheld in the Court of Appeal. (Päijät-Häme District Court R10/1554 and Kouvola Court of Appeals R10/1164)

Another example is that of the television program titled Manne-tv/Romano-tv. It was a television program ran by the National Broadcasting Company in 2007. The program was categorized as a comedy show, and several of its makers were Roma.  In 2008, a complaint about the show was made to the National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland, on the basis that the show was harassment towards the Roma. The National Discrimination Tribunal found the National Broadcasting Company not guilty of harassment as defined in the Non-Discrimination Act (Dnro 2193/66/2007). In 2009, the decision of the Tribunal was appealed, but the Helsinki Administrative Court dismissed the complaint (Helsinki Administrative Court 06445/08/1205). A further complaint was made to the Supreme Administrative Court, which dismissed the complaint in 2011 (Supreme Administrative Court 3870/1/09)..