James Hirvisaari

James Hirvisaari (born 2 July 1960) is a Finnish politician. He was elected to the Finnish Parliament in the 2011 general election held on 17 April[1] on the electoral list of the Finns Party, but since 2013 he has represented Change 2011.

James Hirvisaari
Member of the Finnish Parliament
for Tavastia
In office
20 April 2011 – 21 April 2015
Personal details
Born (1960-07-02) 2 July 1960
NationalityFinnish
Political partyReform (2018-), Change 2011 October 2013-2018
The Finns Party Until October 2013
Alma materUniversity of Helsinki, Department of Theology
OccupationTrain driver, student
Websitehttp://james.hirvisaari.info/vaalit

Personal background

Hirvisaari is a former train driver, educated at the Helsinki Pasila engine drivers' school in 1980–1982. He was admitted to University of Helsinki in 1999 to study theology, and is still registered as an undergraduate student. Hirvisaari undertook his military national service in the Kymi Anti-Aircraft Battalion in 1979–1980 in the city of Kouvola.[2]

Politics

During his 2011 election campaign Hirvisaari was critical of the immigration policies in Finland ("Maahanmuutto hallintaan! – Immigration under control!), and supported national sovereignty ("Riittää, että kansalaiset ovat sitä mieltä – muita perusteluja ei tarvita." – "It is enough that the citizens are of that opinion – no other arguments are needed.") as well as Finland generally as a country ("Suomen kieli – Suomen mieli – Suomen luonto – Suomen lippu" – "Finnish language – Finnish mindset – Finnish nature – Finnish flag").[2] In July 2011 Hirvisaari stated that the killings in Oslo on 22 July 2011, by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, were a side-effect of Norway's immigration policies.

Just before the 2011 general election Hirvisaari was prosecuted for his blog in the Uusi Suomi newspaper web site under the title "Kikkarapäälle kuonoon".[3] The text referenced an attack on a foreign person in Helsinki — Hirvisaari wrote that the crime had not necessarily been a racist one. In November 2010 the district court of Päijät-Häme dropped the charges against him of incitement.[4] After consultation with the deputy general attorney, Jorma Kalske, the state appealed against the verdict.[5] In December the Kouvola court of appeals found Hirvisaari guilty of incitement and fined him.[6]

In October 2013, Speaker of the Parliament Eero Heinäluoma issued a notice of censure to Hirvisaari for an incident where he had invited far-right activist Seppo Lehto as his guest to the parliament. During his visit, Lehto made several Nazi salutes, including at least one instance where Hirvisaari took a photo of Lehto performing the Nazi salute from the spectator gallery overlooking the Parliament House's Session Hall.[7] Photos and videos of Lehto performing the Nazi salute in the Parliament House were then distributed on Lehto's public Facebook page and on YouTube.[8] The Finns Party leadership then unanimously decided to expel Hirvisaari from the party, citing multiple cases of acting against the party's interest.[9][10] After his expulsion from the Finns Party Hirvisaari joined Change 2011, becoming that party's first MP.[11]

In the 2015 parliamentary elections Hirvisaari was a candidate for the Muutos 2011 party on the Uusimaa electoral district,[12] but did not gather enough votes to be elected.

Suomen Sisu

The board of the Finnish nationalist association Suomen Sisu congratulated Hirvisaari for his election to the Finnish parliament and referred to him as "one of its members".[13] In 2013 Hirvisaari resigned his membership in Suomen Sisu,[14] but he rejoined the organisation in 2014.[15]

Nuiva manifesti

James Hirvisaari was one of the authors of the so-called "Nuiva Manifesti" ("The sour electoral manifesto"), an election campaign programme critical of current Finnish immigration policy. The other authors were Finns Party politicians Juho Eerola, Jussi Halla-Aho, Olli Immonen, Teemu Lahtinen, Maria Lohela, Heikki Luoto, Heta Lähteenaro, Johannes Nieminen, Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, Pasi Salonen, Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo and Freddy Van Wonterghem.[16]

Sources
  1. "Valitut ehdokkaat Hämeen vaalipiiri". 192.49.229.35. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  2. "jameshirvisaari.com". James.hirvisaari.info. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  3. The text can be read here (in Finnish): http://jam.pp.fi/kikkarapaalle_kuonoon.htm Archived 23 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Hirvisaari vapautettiin kiihotussyytteestä - Etelä-Suomen Sanomat". Ess.fi. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  5. "Deputy Prosecutor General". Valtakunnansyyttäjänvirasto. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  6. "Kansanedustaja James Hirvisaarelle tuomio vihapuheista | Yle Uutiset". yle.fi. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  7. "Finns Party expelling MP". YLE News. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  8. Rantanen, Miska (2 October 2013). "Kansanedustaja Hirvisaaren vieras teki natsitervehdyksiä eduskunnassa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  9. Tyynysniemi, Matti; Saarinen, Juhani; Pohjanpalo Olli (3 October 2013). "Puhemies antoi Hirvisaarelle huomautuksen". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  10. "Finns Party confirms expulsion of controversial MP". YLE News. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  11. "Hirvisaari perustaa Muutos 2011 -nimisen eduskuntaryhmän | Yle Uutiset". yle.fi. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  12. "List of candidates - Electoral district of Uusimaa". Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  14. STT (22 February 2013). "Ps:n James Hirvisaari eroaa Suomen Sisusta - Kotimaan uutiset - Ilta-Sanomat". Iltasanomat.fi. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  15. "Hirvisaari taas Suomen Sisun jäsen - tämän hän kertoi eronsa syyksi vuosi sitten". 20 January 2014.
  16. "Nuiva vaalimanifesti". Vaalimanifesti.fi. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
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