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Finnish police to file lawsuit to ban far-right group

Xinhua, December 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The National Police Board of Finland announced on Thursday that it decided to file a lawsuit to ban a neo-Nazi group called the Finnish Resistance Movement, the Finnish branch of Nordic Resistance Movement.

Finland's Association Act provides that the purpose of the association must not be contrary to law or morality.

The Police Board said that the Finnish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement is not registered as an association in Finland, but acts as a non-profit organization with objectives and well-established operation forms.

Therefore, it can be banned under the Association Act, it argued. "We see the activities of the Nordic Resistance Movement as fundamentally violating the law and proper behavior, so it is justified to file a lawsuit and bring the matter before a court," said National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen in a press release.

He added that the activities of a violent and openly racist organization should not be given a place in the Finnish society. According to the press release, the lawsuit will be submitted to a court early next year.

The Finnish Resistance Movement has been linked to a series of violent attacks in Finland since 2010.

In September 2016, the group organized a demonstration in downtown Helsinki, where a passer-by, who stopped to contradict the group, was beaten to death.

On Wednesday, one of the founders of the organization went on trial at the Helsinki District Court on manslaughter charges over the incident. Enditem