Ben Zyskowicz, Member of Parliament and parliamentary candidate for the Samlingspartiet, on his way to the subway together with campaign workers when he was suddenly attacked by an unknown man on Saturday.
The man allegedly approached Zyskowicz while he was standing at the station, then shouted at him and threatened to put him down on the tracks. The assailant also allegedly mentioned something about NATO before hitting the parliamentary candidate in the face, Zyskoqicz tells Yle.
“Scolded me for NATO”
To the newspaper Evening newspaper he says that “the motive was clearly political” and that “he scolded me for NATO and for Judaism”.
After the beating, Zyskowicz tried to chase the man, who responded by pushing him over. In the meantime, the colleagues called the police, who arrested the man on the spot.
Despite the beating, he has chosen to continue with the election campaign in full.
– It is extremely important that actions like this do not fulfill their goal, to influence an election candidate’s campaign manager, Zyskowicz tells Yle.
Niinistö and Marin condemn the attack
President Sauli Niinistö draws attention to the incident in a post on Twitter. There he writes that the assault is a “cowardly attack” and that hatred, threats and violence during election times are a violation of democracy.
Even the Prime Minister of Finland agrees that it is an attack on democracy:
“Everyone must have the right to campaign in peace, without threats of violence,” writes Sanna Marin on Twitter.
The member states that he managed without serious physical injuries, but has reported the man to the police for assault and illegal threats. The Helsinki police confirm that they are investigating the incident.
