Court reduces sentence of Marco de Wit, former leader of Finland First party, in defamation case

The Turku Court of Appeals has slightly reduced the sentence of Marco de Wit, the former leader of the Finland First party. The court dismissed one charge of defamation but maintained the original six-month suspended prison sentence. In 2021, the Pirkanmaa District Court sentenced de Wit to a six-month suspended prison term for three counts of aggravated defamation and 13 counts of defamation, which included incitement against a group of people and disturbing religious peace. Additionally, the District Court ordered him to pay €40,000 in damages and court costs to the victims. The Court of Appeals lowered this compensation obligation by €1,100 but also mandated de Wit to pay approximately €6,600 in court costs incurred during the appeals process.

Both de Wit and the prosecutor appealed the District Court’s decision. The ruling is not yet final and may be contested in the Supreme Court.

De Wit faced accusations stemming from a series of widespread defamation charges, making this case particularly unusual due to the involvement of 20 victims, predominantly police officers, as well as some prosecutors and at least one judge from various regions of Finland. Reports emerged in October 2020 regarding the charges, which claimed that de Wit publicly defamed the police after encountering them during a protest he was assigned to oversee. He made derogatory comments and disseminated false and insinuative information about their connections.

Additionally, de Wit was convicted of incitement against a group and disturbing religious peace related to his parliamentary campaign in the spring of 2019, where he disparaged individuals based on skin color, ethnic background, and religion. At the time, de Wit was a prominent figure in the Finland First party and a candidate for parliament. He has a prior conviction for violently resisting an official, two counts of resisting police, and obstructing an official.