Oulu District Court hears case of man linked to neo-Nazi groups accused of attempted murder of foreign-background child

The Oulu District Court will begin hearing a case today involving a man with ties to neo-Nazi groups who stabbed a foreign-background child in a shopping center in downtown Oulu. Following this attack, Sebastian Lämsä is also suspected of trying to assault a 14-year-old foreign-background child, who managed to escape the situation.

Born in 1990, Lämsä faces charges of two counts of attempted murder related to incidents that occurred at the Valkea shopping center last June. Early in the investigation, police indicated that a racist motive was suspected in these acts. However, according to Lämsä’s lawyer, Heikki Aspegren, his client has denied any motivations linked to hostility against foreigners. During the pre-trial custody hearings, Lämsä acknowledged the stabbing but denied any intent to kill.

Lämsä has a history with a banned neo-Nazi organization, the Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL), and has previously been convicted of serious violent crimes. He was part of the PVL’s core group and made headlines in July 2012 by spraying pepper spray in the face of leftist politician Dan Koivulaakso at the North Pride event in Oulu. Additionally, Lämsä was convicted for a knife attack at a library in Jyväskylä during a book launch event for “Extreme Right in Finland” in January 2013.

Reports indicate that he is also suspected of another crime, related to the preparation of a serious offense against life or health, linked to a bomb scare that surfaced in March 2021. A suspicious two-kilogram package addressed to Lämsä was delivered to the postal service point at Prisma in Linnanmaa, Oulu.