Investigation of May Day Attacks on Hämeenkatu Continues as Tuomiokirkonkatu Case Paused

Police are continuing to investigate assaults that took place on Hämeenkatu during May Day demonstrations, while a separate related inquiry into an attack on Tuomiokirkonkatu has been suspended, Tamperelainen reports. The development follows earlier reporting that officers opened two more inquiries linked to the Sinimusta May Day march earlier this month. A private individual has also filed a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman over a hooded attack on Hämeenkatu during the march questioning police response.

Two women were attacked on Hämeenkatu. Investigators, led by criminal commissioner Jari Luoto of the Police of Central Finland, say multiple suspects are under suspicion and work to identify them is ongoing. One masked assailant at a Valkoinen vappu march kicked a woman in the head, Yle said, and the victims had carried a banner reading "nazis get out."

The Tuomiokirkonkatu case, in which a man was beaten by three people on May Day, has been put on hold because suspects have not been identified, Luoto said. He added that a suspended preliminary investigation can be reopened at any time and that the statute of limitations for basic assault is five years. He declined to discuss why identification has proved difficult, saying only that sometimes it is easier and sometimes harder.