Helsinki District Court hears a case on Tuesday that rests on the interpretation of swastika flags flown by far-right demonstrators in Helsinki on Independence Day, 6 December 2018.
Police confiscated several swastika flags carried by participants in a demonstration by the neo-Nazi Kohti Vapautta ('toward freedom') group.
State prosecutor Raija Toiviainen initiated a prosecution as she views the message of the flags as simple and generally understood.
She views it as a threatening and abusive symbol directed at certain groups, although the swastika flag is not specifically banned under Finnish law.
The court will also hear charges related to a demonstration outside a Helsinki school in April 2018.
That event included a racist speech abusing immigrant pupils and young people, and it was also published online.
The prosecutor regards both incidents as representing incitement against an ethnic group. There are a total of six defendants in the case.
