Reader opinion How ugly are people allowed to talk to each other?

The choice of a district court perspective continued the long tradition of discrimination.

Susanna Reinboth asked (HS 31.3) MP Päivi Räsänen (kd) on whether to speak in the name of religion what would otherwise be prohibited. The district court’s acquittal raises other questions as well.

Media artist Räsänen framed his trial as a struggle for freedom of religion and expression, and the district court seems to have swallowed this bait: the court dealt above all with Räsänen’s right to talk about ugly fellow human beings. Very thinly, if at all, the court pondered the subjects of the suspected crime and the question of how the evil speech that continues from year to year and decade affects the conditions of their lives.

Räsänen’s motive (“was not intended to offend”) was more central to the assessment of justice than how his speeches suspected of being criminal actually affect both his targets and the rest of society. Usually, when convicted of crimes, the treatment focuses on the act itself and its victims, the perpetrator’s intentions being secondary.

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This is typical of the transition stages. Attitudes in society have begun to change, and more and more people are realizing that discrimination is not a matter of theory or an interesting matter of principle, but it harms the right people. The perspective chosen by the court continued the older tradition, in which the right and freedom of the discriminator to act as he wishes is crucial.

According to the District Court, Räsänen’s speech is offensive, but does not exceed the threshold of hate speech. The court did not specify where the border runs. This should be done so that we can all recognize this boundary.

What is crucial to the cohesion of society is how ugly people are allowed to talk to each other – on whatever basis. I thank the prosecutors for being able to work for us. I hope that higher courts will guide where the border goes – and that they will also include victims of discrimination, not just the traditional freedoms of those who discriminate.

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Johanna Korhonen

journalist, singer,

Experienced in Discrimination, Vantaa

The reader’s opinions are the speeches written by HS’s readers, selected and delivered by HS’s editorial staff. You can leave a comment or read the principles of writing at www.hs.fi/kirjtamielipidekirjoitus/.

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