Rape sentencing was in the headlines on Wednesday, as the press grappled with the verdict in a trial of five young men of for the rape of a young woman at the Tapanila railway station in north Helsinki.
The case shocked Finland in March, when the five young men, four of whom were under 18, harassed a woman on a commuter train before following her when she got off and then assaulting her. Their Somali background was widely publicised before they were apprehended, as they were wanted men, prompting an avalanche of racist comment on social media and even anguished debate in more mainstream outlets.
The longest sentence was one year and four months’ suspended jail time, while two of the group were acquitted. The ruling states that the ‘method’ of the crime was not widely known at the time, when immigrant gang rapists were in the headlines. That method was that one of the men held his hand over the woman’s mouth to prevent her calling for help while the other two rapists penetrated her with their hands.
That judgement was seen by legal experts as playing down the crime and the suffering of the victim, with Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat both quoting professor Terttu Utriainen on the matter. The prosecutor will appeal the verdict.
Threat to Finland?
Ilta-Sanomat has a double page spread on the ongoing controversy surrounding Russian purchases of real estate in Finland. The paper asked experts from Estonia and Sweden about the topic, and they got the answer that of course, they are a threat.
“The general Estonian opinion is that old EU and Nato countries have up to now been a little too relaxed or even naive about Russia,” said Martin Hurt from the ICDS think tank, which is funded by the Estonian Defence Ministry.
The issue is on the agenda as the new Finns Party Defence Minister has said he will act--and the paper reckons it’s high time.
“The Russian general staff certainly has lots of military plans for Finland,” said Tomas Ries, the rector of the Swedish defence university. That doesn’t mean that they’re going to attack, but the plans are ready.
Stop-go Guggenheim
The biggest daily newspaper in Finland doubles as the local Helsinki paper, and it is therefore often consumed with municipal and planning decisions. So Helsingin Sanomat today runs with a three-page special on municipal responses to the proposed Guggenheim project, which yesterday announced the winning entry in an architectural competition to design the proposed museum.
HS has contacted Helsinki councillors and asked two questions. Firstly, would you support the project if Helsinki council had to fund the majority of the construction costs, and secondly, would you support the project if the government or private donations covered much more of the cost?
The first question received a resounding no, with 31 councillors rejecting that idea and just 6 saying they’d support it. A Guggenheim built with a lower municipal contribution, meanwhile, gained the support of 24 councillors with just 20 opposed. The question did not, however, specify how much additional non-municipal funding would be required.
HS also published a pro-Guggenheim editorial arguing that the project would help draw tourists and bring investment to the Finnish capital.