Police have released four people who were apprehended on Sunday night for putting up hate speech stickers at Töölöntori in Helsinki after concluding that the act does not constitute a crime.
The content of the stickers targetted multiculturalism and sexual and gender minority interest groups. The miscreants were suspected of incitement against ethnic groups but were released soon after interrogations. One of them was a minor.
It would have been a case of incitement against ethnic groups if the stickers had targetted a group of people on the grounds of race, colour, descent, nationality or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability, or a similar basis.
Police said the text on the second sticker was directed against sexual minority interest groups, and not against sexual minorities as a group of people.
According to the legal assessment of the case investigation report, the content of the stickers can be described as hate speech. However, according to current Finnish laws, hate speech by itself is not punishable, but punishment for a crime can be toughened if it is determined to be motivated by racism or hatred.