Tony Halme
Tony Christian Halme, (January 6 1963 - ) is a controversial Finnish Member of Parliament. He is also known by the pseudonym Viikinki he used in the Finnish version of the Gladiators television competition-show.His earlier career in showfighting and boxing have given him a "tough guy" image, enchanced by well publicized instances when he has defended himself in bar brawls. Halme is not hiding his anti-immigrant views, and tends to speak in a rash, direct manner, so he gets lots of publicity quite easily. He has also suggested that Finland should send drug dealers to Russian prisons, as this would result in considerable cost savings, and a prison term in Russia would be a more effective deterrent. The populist party of True Finns took him as an independent candidate in the parliamentary elections of 2003. His voteshare of about 17000 was the 7th highest in Helsinki. Most of his voters are from the poorest suburbs where unemployment is high. Some political analysts believe the Halme phenomenon is a protest, but some fear this marks the rise of a political racist right-wing movement.
During his parliamentary career, Halme has raised controversies. The day after the elections, Halme called president Halonen a lesbian. In July 2003, a shot was fired in his apartment, probably after a domestic quarrel. Nobody was hurt, but the gun was unlicensed. It is also believed that Halme was not only drunk but had also taken painkillers (or possibly doping substances) before the shooting, as he was unconcious for several days. The police searched Halme's office in the House of Parliament, probably trying to find doping substances.
