The 2024 Lucia is Daniela Owusu from Kirkkonummi. Photo: Vesa Moilanen / Lehtikuva
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Helsinki police have concluded their preliminary investigation into a wave of racist abuse directed at Daniela Owusu, who was selected as Finland’s 2024 Lucia.
Police now suspect three individuals of defamation and have sent the case files to separate prosecutors for review, according to Svenska Yle. One suspect had already been referred to prosecutors in April. Two further suspects were identified and added during the course of the investigation.
Owusu, whose father is Ghanaian and mother is Finnish, became the first non-white person to hold the traditional title of Lucia, a cultural figurehead chosen each year by public vote. Her appointment last November triggered an online backlash that included over 100 racist comments and private messages aimed at her directly. Organisers received thousands more.
The Lucia tradition, celebrated annually on 13 December, is coordinated by the health and welfare NGO Folkhälsan, representing Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority. The role includes ceremonial appearances at Helsinki Cathedral and a procession through the city.
The abuse Owusu received drew national attention. Finnish President Alexander Stubb called the attacks “shocking and unequivocally wrong” at the time.
Owusu began receiving hate messages on 14 November, the same day her selection was announced. A news story in Ilta-Sanomat triggered a surge of abusive posts on the Finnish online forum Ylilauta. Content from that platform, along with videos on TikTok, formed the basis of the police investigation.
In a statement to Svenska Yle, Owusu said she welcomed the fact that police had identified some of those responsible.
“I was expecting more to be identified, but it’s hard to track people online. That’s why I didn’t have particularly high expectations,” she said.
She also shared examples of the messages, which included racial slurs and calls for her to leave the country.
Speaking earlier this summer on Yle Vega, Yle’s Swedish-language radio station, she recalled one message reading: “Get out of here, fucking gingerbread, fucking Muslim, fucking immigrant.”
Detective Inspector Juha-Matti Suominen, who led the investigation, declined an interview request. In an email response to Svenska Yle, he described the case as routine and not technically difficult. He did not comment on why more suspects had not been identified.
Following her nomination, Owusu said she hoped to show young people in Finland that the Lucia title is not limited by heritage or ethnicity.
“I want to be a role model and prove that anyone can be Lucia,” she said at the time.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
