Seppo Lehto (born 6 September 1962 in

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

nationalist, currently living in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. The main theme of his activism is the return of Finnish territories ceded to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He also claims to lead several organizations. He has also drawn Mohammed caricatures. Lehto has hosted a podcast called ''Patrioottiradio'', and become well known for creating numerous blogs to disparage politicians and members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities. On 30 May 2008, the Tampere District Court sentenced Lehto to two years and five months imprisonment. Lehto was charged with nine counts of gross defamation, inciting ethnic hatred and religious

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

against

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. The defamations included sexual slander towards the victims, claiming the victims to be guilty of fabricated crimes and writing disturbing material as if they were written by the victims (

Identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...

). Some blog entries were also inciting violence against the victims. Over 40 blog sites were closed by the court's decision. Lehto had previously served a suspended sentence for defamation and was under probation, which means that his three-month sentence will become mandatory. On 3 October 2013, Speaker of the Parliament announced that Seppo Lehto is not anymore welcome to the Parliament House of Finland after he performed a

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...

there and published a photo of the act on the Internet. His host,

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

member of the parliament James Hirvisaari, was also expelled from the Finns Party due to this event. Lehto's attempts to enter politics through elections have been unsuccessful. Pekonen, Kyösti & Hynynen, Pertti & Kalliala, Mari. ''The New Radical Right Taking Shape in Finland.'' University of Helsinki, 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/20120212232448/http://www.valt.helsinki.fi/vol/tutkimus/julkaisut/verkko/newright.htm

References

External links

Iltasanomat: Syyttäjä: Lehdon herjaamien kannattaa pyytää tietojen poistamista itse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehto, Seppo 1962 births Living people 21st-century Finnish criminals Finnish male criminals People from Ylöjärvi Finnish bloggers People from Tampere Finnish nationalists Critics of Islam People convicted of racial hatred offences