Last year Jani Leinonen kidnapped a plastic Ronald McDonald statue from the chain's Ruoholahti restaurant in Helsinki. A group of food activists later posted a video of the mascot’s guillotine-style decapitation by masked handlers. The YouTube clip, entitled the “Execution of Ronald McDonald,” quickly went viral and became an online sensation.
Organisers said they wanted to draw attention to problems surrounding the production of cheap food. Police arrested Leinonen soon after the terrorist-inspired stunt.
Leinonen denies any wrongdoing and says the performance was an act of civil disobedience. The case is set to come before the Helsinki District Court on June 4.
