A man who attempted to strike veteran politician Timo Soini with a plastic bottle was handed a seven-month suspended sentence for attempted assault and other charges at Eastern Uusimaa District Court on Tuesday.
The attempted assault took place in March 2019, when Soini, who at the time was foreign minister in ex-PM Juha Sipilä's (Cen)administration, was greeting voters at a farmers' market in the city of Vantaa's Korso district.
However, security staff on the scene managed to wrestle the attacker — who was wearing clothing marked with the logo of the anti-immigrant group Soldiers of Odin — to the ground.
The court convicted the defendant for violent resistance of authorities and two counts of assault of the security staff that were guarding Soini.
The man was also found guilty of driving a moped while under the influence of alcohol, with the prosecutor saying the man had a blood alcohol content of 0.76.
The defendant, in his mid-50s, denied all of the charges and said that he could not remember any of the incident's events.
One of the security guards testified that he observed a large man determinedly approaching the foreign minister through the crowd.
Then, standing about a metre away from Soini, the defendant raised a plastic bottle in the air and shouted "traitor to the country" or "traitor to the people," the guard told the court.
In court, Soini testified that "without [guard's name]'s speed and quick intervention, he would have hit me. Now it hit him."
Blue Reform backlash
Previous to the attempted attack, Soini left the Finns Party to set up the Blue Reform party, a group with stated goals of lower income taxes, controlled immigration and defending the rights of Finns in EU policy.
Following the incident the defendant shared a large number of anti-immigration posts on social media, including content from well-known racist figures as well as messages opposing coronavirus restrictions.
Earlier this year Soini announced he was departing municipal politics after two decades, and would not be running in the upcoming local elections.
On Monday it was reported that Soini had been ejected from the Blue Reform group in Espoo, his hometown.
According to local paper Länsiväylä, the party's board found that Soini had hindered the activities of the group, due to having appeared in two election adverts for the Movement Now party.
In a blog post issued on Monday, Soini characterised his ejection as "illegal," claiming he had not been consulted or contacted about the matter.