Seppo Lehto (born 6 September 1962 in Kuru) is a Finnish nationalist, currently living in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

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

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He also claims to lead several organizations. He has also drawn Mohammed caricatures. Lehto appeared in the news in 2011 when an al-Qaida operative Abu Sulaiman al-Nasser called for his beheading for defaming prophet Muhammad. 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. In May 2005 Lehto was convicted of assaulting an Afghan refugee and had to pay fines. 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 refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

against

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. 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, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

). 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 The Parliament House ( , ) is the seat of the Parliament of Finland. It is located in the Finland, Finnish capital Helsinki, in the district of Töölö, Etu-Töölö. History In 1923, a competition was held to choose a site for a new parliamen ...

after he performed a

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

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

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

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 critics of Islam Finnish male criminals Finnish male bloggers Finnish nationalists Finnish prisoners and detainees Muhammad cartoonists People convicted of racial hatred offences People from Tampere People from Ylöjärvi Prisoners and detainees of Finland