On October 16, a video was published on the Facebook page of “Radio Sivrce,” showing Finnish police apparently spraying pepper spray in the faces of demonstrators during a protest held in Helsinki. When sharing the video, the media outlet also wrote, “The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, invites the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, to observe the ongoing demonstrations in Finland.” The media outlet highlights the Finnish police’s violent actions and hints at Valtonen’s statement.
The video showing Finnish police using pepper spray against demonstrators in Helsinki is being shared without context. “Radio Sivrce” fails to mention that a legal case was pursued against the police officers involved, and their supervisor was fined for the excessive use of force.
The video, shared without this context, creates the impression that the dispersal of protests shown in the footage reflects the standard and lawful practice in Finland.
The footage was filmed in Helsinki and depicts an environmental protest by the movement Elokapina (Extinction Rebellion Finland). On October 3, 2020, eco-activists in Finland blocked a street demanding that the Finnish government declare a climate emergency and comply with the Paris Agreement. According to the organization, 51 activists were detained during the protest.
Members and activists of Elokapina sat on the ground, blocking the road. As reported by local media, they refused to comply with police orders to clear the street, after which law enforcement officers used pepper spray against them.
The legality of using pepper spray against demonstrators in Finland became a matter of interest to the prosecutor’s office. An investigation was launched against seven police officers who either used the spray or participated in managing the protest. The officers did not consider the use of pepper spray an unlawful act. In 2023, the Helsinki District Court fined one officer who was responsible for managing the protest that day and had given instructions to others. The six officers who directly used the special means against the demonstrators were acquitted.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the protest in Helsinki was peaceful, and the police were not obligated to demand that demonstrators clear the road or to use pain-inducing measures.
The prosecutor’s office appealed the court’s decision to the Court of Appeal, where hearings began on August 28, 2025. Prosecutors are seeking punishment for the six police officers who directly used pepper spray against Elokapina activists. Therefore, spreading the video without clarifying that both the police officers and their supervisor were held accountable creates the false impression that the use of special means against demonstrators is a common practice in Finland.
Finland’s Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Elina Valtonen was visiting Tbilisi. She met with Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili and later arrived at a protest in front of the Parliament. The following day, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that he had canceled his meeting with Valtonen “due to her participation in an illegal rally and making false statements.” The Finnish Foreign Minister denied this in a Finnish media outlet, saying that she herself had canceled the meeting due to changes in her schedule. She also addressed Kobakhidze on X, inviting him to Finland to “meet the free press and observe any demonstration of your liking.”
The circulation of the video filmed in Finland by “Radio Sivrce” with such a description suggests that police officers also act violently in European countries and that the state does not hold them accountable. Myth Detector has previously verified videos allegedly showing police violence in European countries; some of them were not actually filmed in Western countries. Read more in the article:
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