Halla-aho charged with agitation and blasphemy

No sooner do I say I'm sick of it than the "race doctor" himself is back in the news.

YLE: Halla-aho saa syytteen nettikirjoituksistaan

Helsingin kaupunginvaltuutettu Jussi Halla-aho (ps.) saa syytteen blogikirjoituksistaan. Syytteen nostamisesta päätti apulaisvaltakunnansyyttäjä Jorma Kalske.

Jussi Halla-ahon katsottiin syyllistyneen uskonrauhan rikkomiseen ja kiihottamiseen kansanryhmää vastaan.

Halla-ahon katsottiin laatineen kesällä 2008 nettiin kirjoituksen, jossa islam ja sen pyhät instituutiot yhdistettiin pedofiliaan. Nettikirjoituksessa esitettiin myös, että ohikulkijoiden ryöstely ja verovaroilla loisiminen on erään kansanryhmän kansallinen tai geneettinen erityispiirre.

Syyte nostettiin Helsingin käräjäoikeudessa.

In brief, Finnish municipal politician, would-be MEP and political racist and islamophobe Jussi Halla-aho is being charged with ethnic agitation and blasphemy. The charges stem from blog posts he wrote in 2008 where he claimed Islam is a religion of institutionalized paedophilia and that laziness and welfare sponging are racial characteristics of the Somali people.

In a nutshell, that is why I oppose this kind of legistlation. If overt racism is criminalized people like Halla-aho won't speak their minds, because it's illegal. As I've said before, many of the things he's said make it clear that he's a racist and an islamophobe. Without free speech, he wouldn't say those things. And I believe he should have a right to say those things, even if I do find them personally distasteful.

Legally speaking, looking at the previous case of Mikko Ellilä and others, it seems certain Halla-aho will be found guilty and fined. The Finnish laws on ethnic agitation and "disturbing religious peace" (=blasphemy) make any speech that "insults" an ethnic group, people or religion a crime, and as Halla-aho has clearly done that, he'll probably be found guilty.

As I've said previously on this blog, I oppose Jussi Halla-aho and I oppose the ridiculous restrictions Finnish law places on the freedom of speech. So basically my stand on all this is that it sucks. I'm off to watch F1.