A specialty of the far-right Finns party (Perus) seems to be the breaching the law.
According to the influential Finnish media Helsingin Sanomat the majority of MPs in 2012-2019 with a criminal record were elected from the ticket of the party.
In particular six of the eight MPs with a criminal past were members of the Finns.
The reason the persons were convinced vary. One was convinced for assault against a political opponent. Another was found guilty for violent acts against Muslims while a third was found guilty for inciting ethnic agitation. There is one convinced for sexual harassment against a fellow MP.
The president of Perus Jussi Halla-aho, who is also a member of the European Parliament, was convicted in 2012 for racist comments.
According to Niko Pyrhönen, a researcher at the University of Helsinki specialised in far-right and populist mouvements, “the convictions may also reveal something about the supporters of the Finns Party” reports Helsingin Sanomat.
The leaders of the Finns Party didn’t make any comment to the newspaper.
