Perussuomalaiset MP refused entry into Seinäjoki rock festival

A lawmaker of the radical rightist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), the second largest component of the four-party alliance government has been refused entry into a rock festival on charge of violating non-discrimination policy, festival organisers said.

The organisers cancelled the invitation of Juha Mäenpää MP and did not allow his entry into the Provinssi music festival in Seinäjoki on Saturday night following his write-up published in a Finnish language local newspaper Ilkka-Pohjalainen where he criticised gender education.

Mäenpää arrived at the festival venue as a guest but staff of the festival informed him that that his invitation was no longer valid, said Provinssi music festival authority in a press release.

“Juha Mäenpää was invited to Provinssi like the other local political figures. When registering, each invited guest reads and separately accepts the main values and operating principles of the Provinssi. These include, for example, the promotion of diversity and equality,” said the press release.

“In the Provinssi, everyone has freedom of speech and opinion, but we do not accept any kind of discrimination,” said the press release, adding that Mäenpää's write-up published in the Ilkka-Pohjalainen newspaper on Saturday was against festival´s operating principles.

Defending the rights of transgender people, the organisers said that it was important to them to create awareness for promoting gender diversity.

The festival authority sent an email to the lawmaker to inform him about the cancelation of the invitation pointing out the reasons behind it.

“In a democratic society, there should be a public debate about different points of view, but as an event, we have the right to set operating principles to combat the denigration of human dignity,” said the organisers in the release.

Mäenpää, however, told local media that he had not seen the email as his official phone was not with him that time.

Earlier on June 30, a Perussuomalaiset leader and Minister for Economic Affairs of the newly formed alliance government Vilhelm Junnila decided to resign following the controversy raised among both the oppositions and ruling parties’ leaders over his links to far-right groups.

Another Perussuomalaiset leader and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen also came under fire last weekend following her social media posts alluding to a far-right conspiracy theory.