Pirkanmaa District Court has found Geurt Marco de Wit, chair of the nationalist and anti-immigrant organisation Finnish Nation First, guilty on numerous charges of defamation and incitement to hostility.
The court handed down a six month suspended prison sentence in relation to three charges of aggravated defamation and 13 charges of defamation, as well as two further charges for inciting hostility against a group of people and one charge of violating religious freedom.
The court also ruled that de Wit must remove several articles he published on the internet, ordering him to pay compensation of almost 40,000 euros to the victims for suffering and legal costs.
A total of five charges were dismissed.
De Wit had denied all charges.
"Exceptionally large" case
The "exceptionally large" action against de Wit was brought by 20 plaintiffs, among them police officers, prosecutors and at least one judge.
In addition, de Wit was accused of inciting ethnic hostility as well as violating the right to religious freedom in connection with his party's parliamentary election campaign in the spring of 2019.
According to the prosecutor, de Wit published articles threatening and insulting Muslims, dark-skinned people, Afghans, refugees and asylum seekers on the basis of their skin colour, background, national and ethnic origin, as well as religion.
De Wit was the leader of Suomen kansa ensin, or Finnish Nation First, at the time and he was running as a candidate for parliament.
De Wit has previously been handed down a suspended sentence for violently resisting an official in the performance of duties, two counts of insubordination against police officers, and obstructing an officer.
The judgments in the case are not final, as de Wit has the right to apply for leave to appeal.