Speaker Halla-aho considers it possible that the seizure may lower the threshold for similar attempts to express their opinion.
Parliament going through his security measures due to the protest organized in the gallery on Tuesday, Speaker Jussi Halla-aho (ps) told For Democrat newspaper on Wednesday.
“We will go through with Parliament’s security whether the existing procedures were followed in the security checks and in responding to the disturbance, and if they were followed, whether there were any development needs in those procedures,” Halla-aho told Demokraati.
The plenary session of the Parliament was interrupted on Tuesday afternoon due to the demonstration in defense of Palestine in the public galleries.
There were several protest groups. They carried Palestinian flags and protest sheets. Several of the demonstrators had dyed their hands red. Demonstrators chanted “Free Palestine! Stop the genocide! Cease fire now!”.
The session was suspended for about ten minutes. Deputy speaker Paula Risikko (kok) ordered the gallery to be emptied, and the guards escorted the protesters away.
The public it is possible to watch the plenary sessions from the parliament’s public gallery, but it is not allowed to show your opinion there, for example by shouting or in other ways.
Halla-aho considers it possible that the kidnapping might lower the threshold for similar attempts to express their opinion.
“If this were to happen, then of course we have to rethink how we can guarantee that we can stick to the prevailing culture that people will not come to the parliament to express their opinion for or against any issue,” he told Demokraati.
Security director of the Parliament Tiina Ranta commented on Tuesday to the Democrat that the parliament is investigating the matter. According to him, there will be no consequences for the protesters.
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