Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen was twice acquitted of hate speech charges for expressing a biblical view of marriage. She will now be dragged back to court after state prosecutors appealed the decision, according to a statement Friday from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Räsänen.
Räsänen, who is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, sent out a tweet in 2019 that questioned the church’s decision to endorse an LGBT pride event. The post referenced verses 24–27 from the first chapter of Romans, which condemns homosexuality.
Despite the country’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression, Finnish authorities opened an investigation into Räsänen’s tweet and her previous activity, including comments she made during a 2019 radio debate and in a pamphlet on marriage and sexuality that she wrote for her church back in 2004. Räsänen was charged in all three instances for violating section 10 of Finland’s criminal code, which prohibits messages that insult, threaten, or defame based on group identity. Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola was charged as well for his role in publishing the pamphlet.
In March of 2022, a Helsinki district court ruled unanimously to acquit Räsänen and Pohjola. Nevertheless, Finland’s prosecutor general brought the case to the Helsinki Court of Appeals, which ruled unanimously once again in favor of the defendants in November 2023.
Now, prosecutors have appealed a second time, demanding that both Räsänen and Pohjola be censored and ordered to pay tens of thousands of euros in fines. Finland’s Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case.
Räsänen, who endured questioning by police over her religious beliefs, has stated that she is “ready to defend freedom of speech and religion” at the Supreme Court, and that she will go “as far as the European Court of Human rights, if necessary.”
Räsänen further expressed her fear of seeing the church in Finland move away from biblical teachings. Not only is marriage in question, she said, but “it is also about salvation. If people do not believe in [the] Bible, how can they trust the good news of [the] Gospel?”
Regardless of future court rulings, it’s clear that Räsänen will continue speaking what she believes: “[W]e are all created in the image of God, but we all are also sinners, and we are in need of grace.”
She encouraged others to do the same. “It is time,” she said, “to be open about your convictions.”
