Complaint to Ombudsman Questions Police Response After Hooded Attack on Hämeenkatu

Masked, black-clad attackers assaulted a young woman on Hämeenkatu during the May Day march. YLE reports that a private individual has filed a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman asking for an investigation into the police’s conduct at the Sinimusta movement’s May Day event and march in Tampere.

The complainant asks the Ombudsman to determine whether the police fulfilled their statutory duty to protect citizens’ life, health and safety and to assess whether similar events can be reliably secured in the future if participants’ and bystanders’ safety cannot be guaranteed. Around 200 people took part in the Sinimusta movement’s gathering and roughly 300 counter-demonstrators were present; the assault target was counter-protester Tytti Hynninen and the incident is being investigated as an assault. The attackers were described as young men in black with covered faces, and the far-right Active Club had said it would join the march. The Police of Central Finland say they consider that demonstrations and general public order and safety were successfully maintained, but the complainant argues officers and stewards did not intervene quickly enough and suspects have not yet been identified.

According to YLE, police chief Mikko Masalin said officers did not ask participants to remove masks and that the risk of violence was assessed case-by-case. Masalin adds that patrols were positioned both at the front and at the rear of the march.

According to Tamperelainen, Tampere’s Mayor Ilmari Nurminen urged demonstrators to keep events peaceful and “family-friendly”, and he also requested that face-covering masks not be worn at protests.

Tamperelainen adds that Inner Finland police are also investigating an alleged assault at Keskustori, involving several demonstrators from the Sinimusta movement. The city will meet police to review how May Day events were handled and to consider ways to keep the city centre safe for families, and it points to a cross-sector working group Nurminen set up last year.

YLE further reports that MPs Rami Lehtinen and Jouni Ovaska have called for a blanket ban on face coverings at demonstrations. Aamulehti adds that Ps-Nuoriso, backed by Elias Rosengrén and Jyri Tallgren, is calling for a wider ban on face-covering clothing in public places and argues that such a ban at demonstrations could have given police grounds to act proactively to prevent the reported assault.