Finnish MP apologises after spouse’s vulgar social media attacks on journalists

Finnish MP Minna Reijonen (Finns Party) has publicly apologised for her spouse Ari Reijonen’s vulgar Facebook comments targeting two journalists, calling the incident “a serious misstep,” Yle reports.

Ari Reijonen, in posts on the Facebook page of local newspaper Pitäjäläinen, referred to the editor-in-chief of Pitäjäläinen and Koillis-Savo, Minna-Liisa Mathalt, as a “serial drowner” and a “happy widow”—alluding to a 2015 accident in which Mathalt’s spouse and child died when their tractor broke through ice. He also labelled a Savon Sanomat reporter a “pedophile” in a since-deleted comment.

The remarks followed a Savon Sanomat article evaluating the performance of MPs in the Savo-Karelia constituency, including Minna Reijonen. Neither targeted journalist was involved in writing the piece.

Both Minna and Ari Reijonen later issued public apologies. “I deeply regret my spouse’s completely inappropriate social media comments and the significant distress they caused,” Minna Reijonen wrote on Facebook. “It would be good if we spoke about each other more beautifully and respectfully. This went badly wrong.”

Ari Reijonen removed his comments and posted an apology on his Facebook profile Monday evening: “I commented too harshly. I have deleted my comments. I apologise. I made a misjudgment.”

Matti Pietiläinen, editor-in-chief of Savon Sanomat, condemned the attacks as “degrading, personal, and entirely unfounded,” noting they targeted individuals unrelated to the article. “The more vicious public political debate becomes, the more regrettably vicious the side effects are,” he told Yle.

As of Wednesday, no formal complaints had been filed with Eastern Finland Police regarding the comments. Defamation in Finland requires a victim’s report to trigger prosecution.