FINLAND: Suppressing Dissent Cops worse than an enemy during the War
Despite being relatively mildly hit by COVID-19 flu-like virus, Finland has seen some of the harshest restrictions in Europe and has been living in a state of emergency for weeks. The restrictions have triggered protests brutally dispersed by the police.
Following the break-up of a demonstration against repression, Finnish MP Ano Turtiainen has said that he considers the Finnish police to be like an ‘enemy during the war’. He accused the law enforcement of not serving the citizens.
In a scorching Facebook post, the MP, who formed his own party since being expelled from the Finns Party for poking fun at the killing of George Floyd, wrote that in his opinion the police don’t protect the citizens, but rather safeguard the Helsinki regime of which they are a part.
‘I do not trust the police anymore. I treat them the same way I would deal with the worst enemy during war,’ Turtiainen wrote, referring to protests against coronavirus restrictions held in Helsinki last weekend. Turtiainen suggested that the world is at war and that he doesn’t think that the situation will be resolved ‘without worse brawls’.
During the weekend’s demonstration organised against the restrictions to combat the coronavirus epidemic, the police brought over 20 people into custody and fined an additional 10 motorists for operating their vehicles in a disturbing manner as part of the demonstration.
According to the Helsinki Police Department, the authorities received no prior notification of the demonstration, as some 300 protesters showed up. As of now, public gatherings of over six people are prohibited as part of the government’s claims to push down the spread of the coronavirus (and anti-regime protests).
Michael Walsh over 50 years of political activism has had many brushes with the law. He has been several times arrested and twice gaoled in Britain and in Spain.
‘The thing to remember is that a policeman’s job is unique. He knows that in the broad field of careers the status of his job is that of a leper set loose in society. For a start, a person with whom we can readily associate ourselves has the ability to be a doctor or engineer, a tradesman or a business person.
The intellect of a policeman falls short of even the lowest skilled job. Should the policeman or woman lose their job there is no meaningful occupation prepared to offer a job opportunity to an ex-cop except as an airport baggage checker, security guard in a shopping mall or employed to patrol a building site overnight. These jobs are low paid, insecure and lack respect.
‘On the other hand, the same person provided with a police job is well-paid, has a better pension than most, his job is hardly arduous or mentally challenging, and he or she gets early retirement thanks to the generosity of the state, which in effect has become his mother ship.
Unsurprisingly, the policeman’s opinion of himself is on a par with that of the humble citizen whose head the policeman crunches with his baton. Public scorn for the cop reflects the image the cop sees in their mirror each day.’
To date, Finland has been relatively mildly hit by COVID-19, with some 870 deaths, but has seen some of the hardest restrictions in Europe and has been living in a state of emergency for over one year. Source