By Juhani Niinisto
HELSINKI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Following a lethal aggression by a extremist demonstrator against a passer-by here, Finland has witnessed heated debate over the legality of activities carried out by the radical right.
A 28-year-old man died in hospital last Friday, days after he was wounded by the attacker near the central railway station. He was said to have made negative remarks towards those demonstrating with the right-wing organization Finnish Resistance Movement (FRM).
While public exhibition of nazi-style symbols in continental Europe usually leads to speedy questions from law enforcement, Finland has not so far criminalized emblems of the far right.
Some leading politicians have now suggested the FRM should be officially discontinued.
The national police chief said on Tuesday the use of the symbols of the far right should be banned through legislation.
By Tuesday, some 26,000 people had signed a campaign appeal to change the Finnish criminal code so that "organizing racism" would also be a crime. The appeal had been launched before the recent violence but gained momentum thereafter.
Juha Lavapuro, professor of law in digital society at Turku University, was one of the first this week to point out the deficiency in the Finnish legal framework that organizing racism is not recognized as criminality.
Talking to Xinhua on Tuesday, Lavapuro saw the Finnish social values as among the underlying factors behind the so-far cautious approach to tackling racism. "Deep down, this is also about limits of freedom of speech and right to freedom of association and assembly."
"The Finnish government takes them quite seriously. This may explain why there has been a lack of political initiative and less willingness to work to decrease racism in Finland to an appreciable extent," he said.
Lavapuro said the current Finnish criminal legislation and the rules on registered associations insufficiently reflected the message against racism.
Many international agreements Finland has signed require that local laws unequivocally prohibit the kind of activities the Finnish Resistance Movement has been engaged in, said Lavapuro.
On the other hand, Timo Soikkanen, emeritus professor of political history at Turku University, cautioned against prohibiting organizations through legislation.
Allowing public presence improves the chances of the police observing any activities, Soikkanen said.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted practicing lawyer Markku Fredman as saying that racist actions "should not have the protection of freedom of assembly and speech."
Fredman claimed even the police had exhibited "a vague concept of freedom of speech." He gave as an example a case where the police had suspended a criminal investigation on the grounds that "expressing an opinion -- even a racist one -- does not meet the criteria of a crime." The police was later admonished by the Chancellor of Justice office.
Helsingin Sanomat warned in its editorial on Tuesday that leading politicians could either nourish or repel political violence.
The newspaper said extremist associations try to create an impression that they represent a wider population base, and acceptance hidden between the lines by politicians is what the associations want.
