At this very moment there are 17 political prisoners sitting in Finnish prisons. In violation to the UN human rights committee's rulings, Finland has not agreed to let go of its backwater traditions.
It is still mandatory in Finland for every healthy young man to go into the army to serve for a minimum of 180 days (6 months). If one refuses to go to the army because of a religious or an antimilitaristic conviction, he can choose to perform civil service for the city or government for a period of 395 days (13 months). Because the civil service is unreasonably longer than the minimum service in the army, some people refuse to serve in any way. Many of them also see themselves as being discriminated against because women, Jehova's witnesses and people living in an autonomous area off the coast of Finland do not need to serve. The people who choose not to serve are sentenced to 197 days (6,5 months, half of the civil service) of imprisonment.
I am urging anyone who feels that this is wrong to sign a petition to the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, to free Finland's political prisoners. The petition can be found at
http://www.adressit.com/totaalit. For people who are not Finnish: the fields you must fill are from top to bottom: first name, last name, place of residence. Also if you do not want your name seen on the Internet, check "Ei" instead of "Kyllä" from under the last field. Once you have signed, click "Allekirjoita adressi".
Thank you for reading my post. Even if you choose not to sign, it is always positive to spread the word that there are people senteced to sit in a prison among criminals because of something they believe.
