The state prosecutor has ordered the police to launch a preliminary investigation into an online article discussing a mass annihilation of Muslims in Finland. Police initially opted not to investigate the matter, as they deemed the article to fall within the framework of freedom of speech.
The writing dates back to 2016, when it appeared in a far right online publication.
In January of last year, the police received a request to look into the matter, but decided two months later that there was nothing to investigate.
"The language and style of the article is matter of fact. It is written in a general sense, and does not include any concrete elements that could be put into action," the police said of their decision.
Among other things the article, published by an online magazine called Sarastus (or Dawn in English), discussed how to dispose of people's bodies killed during ethnic cleansing.
The police, however, deemed that the article did not qualify as inciting ethnic hatred or preparing a holocaust.
Timo Hännikäinen, the publication's editor-in-chief, also works for a publisher which was banned from the Helsinki Book Fair in 2018. The publisher was blocked for its far-right views. Exhibition company Suomen Messut later paid the publisher 2,000 euros in damages.