Prosecutors have charged comedian Ilkka Kivi and Helsinki city councillor Aino Tuominen (Green) with defamation for comments about Parliamentary Speaker Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) on the social media platform X.
The charges relate to posts made in November 2023 in which both Kivi and Tuominen used the term "fascist" to describe Halla-aho’s politics. Their responses were directed at a Ukrainian journalist and written in English.
Kivi confirmed the charge in a Facebook post but declined to comment further. Tuominen also confirmed the charge and said she was surprised by the prosecutor's decision.
"I would have hoped for a different decision," Tuominen told Yle. "It is regrettable for Finnish democracy, if people can't comment on a leading politician's politics and policies."
She added that Halla-aho's criminal complaint already restricts public debate. “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 her intention had been to highlight that despite political differences, both she and Halla-aho support Ukraine.
Halla-aho said in November that he filed the complaint to clarify the limits of political criticism in public discourse.
HT