Thousands of Finns protest against racism, fascism

Tens of thousands of people, including the Finland prime minister and a former president, took to the streets across the country to protest against racism and fascism.

Saturday’s marches under the banner ‘Enough is enough’ were staged in response to the fatal assault on a 28-year-old man earlier this month in the capital Helsinki who had protested against a neo-Nazi group, according to Finnish broadcaster YLE.

The man died on September 16 of his injuries, almost a week after he was involved in an altercation with members of the Finnish Resistance Movement.

The man was kicked and hit his head on the ground after reportedly spitting in front of members of the neo-Nazi group.

A 26-year-old man, who police said was an active member of the neo-Nazi group, was on Wednesday remanded in custody on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter. 

Following an influx of asylum-seekers last year, anti-immigration sentiment has been on the rise in the small Nordic country, which has little experience of taking in large numbers of refugees.

Holding placards showing peace signs and red lines crossing out swastikas, demonstrators said it was time to break a silence they said had allowed racism and far-right violence to grow in the country. Similar events were held in other towns.

“People really feel that there’s not enough talk about racism here. There’s too much neglect. We should all speak more against racism, including the leaders,” said a demonstrator who gave her name as Rosa.

Leading politicians, including Prime Minister Juha Sipila, condemned the incident, amid calls to ban racist organisations. Sipula, who has been criticised for being cautious on his comments about far-right movements, joined a similar anti-racism rally in the city of Kuopio.

“People are here for a just cause. Actions by violent extreme movements are a worry to the silent majority of the nation,” Sipila told public broadcaster YLE.

He said the government was planning to tighten legislation regarding extremist movements and hate speech.

Police in Helsinki estimated that 15,000 people joined Saturday's march to Senate Square.

The rally concluded with short speeches by, among others, former president Tarja Halonen, music and a moment of silence for the deceased 28-year-old.

Two anti-immigration protesters were arrested at two other locations in Helsinki, police said.

Anti-racist events were also staged without incident in Tampere, Joensuu and Jyvaskyla.

In Helsinki, a small group of people on Saturday gathered for a counter demonstration they titled Close the borders, saying critics of immigration policy should not be called racists.

Police said all demonstrations on Saturday went ahead peacefully.

About 32,000 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, came to Finland last year. As in other Nordic countries the government has subsequently toughened up its immigration policies, such as by tightening the asylum criteria for people coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.