Sebastian Tynkkynen (PS), a councillor for the City of Oulu, was convicted of ethnic agitation and breach of the sanctity of religion by the District Court of Oulu in January, 2017.
Sebastian Tynkkynen (PS), a councillor for the City of Oulu, has been denied leave to appeal against the sentence imposed on him for a series of comments posted on Facebook in July, 2016.
The District Court of Oulu in January found the outspoken councillor guilty of ethnic agitation and breach of the sanctity of religion, and handed him a fine of 300 euros after ruling that the comments defamed and slandered Islam and Muslims.
Tynkkynen filed a leave to appeal with the Supreme Court of Finland after his initial leave to appeal was rejected by the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal.
“The Supreme Court’s decision not to grant the leave to appeal finally confirms that I was mistaken about my rights in Finland,” he stated in a press release on Thursday.
Tynkkynen, who has claimed that the initial verdict was political, said he will bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights.
“That’s the last step I can take to defend my freedom of speech. Finnish legal practice does not in my opinion stand the scrutiny of the human rights court also in regards to my case as it limits freedom of speech in an unfounded way,” he argued.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Timo Heikkala – Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi
