Immigration Minister Thors is a favourite target for online thugs.

The Facebook death threat has now become a police matter, the tabloid Iltasanomat reports.

“MINISTER of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors (Swedish People’s Party) is reporting to the police about a group in Facebook that is threatening to kill her.

A group was set up on Facebook called ’Olen valmis istumaan muutaman vuoden Astrid Thorssin taposta!!’ (I’m ready to spend a few years in jail for killing Astrid Thors!!).

It was created by a municipal politician from Häme.

Launching a police investigation about the matter requires a report of an offence by the injured party because of the nature of the crime, i.e. an illegal threat.

‘If we neither put a stop to this kind of writing nor clearly communicate that openly racist threats are intolerable, someone might think that it is legal to say it in deeds not words,’ Thors says. ‘When discussion on the Net becomes this aggressive, there is a danger of innocents getting hurt. He who incites people to commit racist crimes is morally responsible if someone acts on his words.’

Director of Government Security Timo Härkönen says that Thors continuously receives obscene messages and threats over the internet.”

ILTASANOMAT 26 February.
MIKKO MARTTINEN & HANNES MARKKULA
Lehtikuva - Mikko Stig