Prosecutors have charged two people with defamation over social media comments about the speaker of Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho (Finns).
Comedian Ilkka Kivi said on Facebook that the prosecutor had brought defamation charges against him. Kivi declined to comment or give media interviews about the charges.
Helsinki deputy councillor Aino Tuominen (Green) told Yle that she had also been charged.
Tuominen surprised by charges
Tuominen said that she was very confused by the prosecutor’s decision.
“I would have hoped for a different decision,” said Tuominen in a statement. “It is regrettable for Finnish democracy, if people can’t comment on a leading politician’s politics and policies.”
Tuominen also said that she was surprised at the prosecutor’s decision because there is a clear precedent for similar cases.
She argues that Halla-aho’s decision to file a criminal complaint has already had a negative impact on Finnish democracy.
“That a leading politician makes a criminal complaint about terms used to describe his politics in an individual tweet, is already a restriction of freedom of speech.”
Tuominen said that her main purpose in her tweet was to explain in social media discussion that both she and Halla-aho support Ukraine despite their positions at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Criminal complaint over “fascist” descriptor
Halla-aho made a criminal complaint against Kivi and Tuominen in November 2023. Halla-aho said Kivi and Tuominen had defamed him by using the term “fascist” in posts on the X social media platform, which was formerly known as Twitter.
Both Kivi and Tuominen’s posts were in English, responding to a Ukrainian reporter’s post.
Tuominen has previously said that she did not use the term as an insult, but rather to describe Halla-aho’s politics.
Halla-aho said he wanted to clarify via a criminal complaint where the boundaries of critical speech lie.