Finland's major Neo-Nazi organization banned

The Pirkanmaa District Court decided on Thursday to ban the Finnish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement (Finnish acronym PVL), a Neo-Nazi organization. National broadcaster Yle reported.

The organization was clamped down because it "flagrantly violated the principles of good practice," the court was quoted by Yle as saying.

The court ruled that the organization was a violent group that incited its members and followers to take violent acts and spread hate speeches.

In addition, the court considered that the group's activities were not within the scope of protection of freedom of speech, as it violated the fundamental human rights of other people.

The organization expressed its intention to appeal the district court's verdict to the court of appeal, according to Yle.

The Nordic Resistance Movement, a Neo-Nazi organization, was founded first in 1996 in Sweden, and its branches were later formed in other Nordic countries -- Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark.

In October last year, a Finnish member of the organization was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for assaulting a passer-by at a protest venue near the Helsinki railway station. The victim died in hospital later, although the court did not believe his death was caused by the injuries made in the assault.

Meanwhile, the National Police Board said, the ban means that the activities of the association must be terminated, according to a press release of national police board.

National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen said that the National Police Board will scrutinise the contents of the decision and consider its implications accordingly.

“In our opinion, the court decision sends a clear message that the activities of violent and openly racist organisations have no place whatsoever in Finnish society,” he said.

The National Police Board brought early in the year an action for the dissolution of the Finnish Section of the Nordic Resistance Movement as well as its regional sections and the association Pohjoinen perinne ry.

The lawsuit was initiated on the grounds that its activities were considered fundamentally unlawful and in breach of good conduct.