Finland Struggles with More Hate Crimes

Police say hate crimes are on the rise in Finland. For example, the number of suspected racially-motivated crimes more than doubled in Helsinki from 2007 to 2008. Last year, police dealt with 859 suspected hate crimes. Assault was the most common crime linked to discrimination.

The rise can partially be explained by changes in compiling statistics. However, police say that even without those modifications, the number of hate crimes has clearly risen.

A total of 755 of the suspected hate crimes, or 88 percent, had racist underpinnings.

Six percent, or 53 of the reported crimes, were carried out against victims due to their religious beliefs. Seventeen of the cases were against Muslims. Meanwhile, 23 of the reported hate crimes were committed against sexual or gender minorities, and 28 crimes were carried out against victims because of their disabilities (...)