A Finnish lawmaker has been cleared, again, of “hate speech” claims that were brought against her by a state prosecutor after she posted a Bible verse on social media.
The decision comes from the Helsinki Court of Appeal, which dismissed the prosecutors’ claims against Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola.
They were cleared earlier in a lower court, but the charges were brought against the two a second time at the appeals level.
The court ruled it “has no reason, on the basis of the evidence received at the main hearing, to assess the case in any respect differently from the district court. There is therefore no reason to alter the final result of the district court’s judgment.”
“At the heart of the prosecutor’s examination of Räsänen was this: Would she recant her beliefs? The answer was no – she would not deny the teachings of her faith,” explained a lawyer on her team, Paul Coleman of ADF International.
“The cross-examination bore all the resemblance of a ‘heresy’ trial of the Middle Ages; it was implied that Räsänen had ‘blasphemed’ against the dominant orthodoxies of the day.”
The district court had ruled last March against the prosecutor’s attempt to convict her, the ADF explained. The appeals court ordered the prosecution to pay her legal fees, although the prosecutor still could appeal to the nation’s Supreme Court.
Räsänen, a former interior minister for Finland and grandmother of 11, was charged with “agitation against a minority group” in 2021 under a section of Finland’s statutes that concern “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the ADF said.
Her offense was her expression of her Christian beliefs on marriage and sexual ethics in a 2019 tweet, in addition to a 2019 live radio debate and 2004 church pamphlet.
#kirkko on ilmoittanut olevansa #seta n #Pride2019 virallinen partneri. Miten kirkon oppiperusta, #raamattu sopii yhteen sen kanssa, että häpeä ja synti nostetaan ylpeyden aiheeksi? pic.twitter.com/cnjAQCrOc2
— Päivi Räsänen (@PaiviRasanen) June 17, 2019
Pohjola was charged for publishing Räsänen’s 2004 pamphlet.
In a statement released by her lawyers, she noted the appellate ruling recognized the right of free speech.
“It isn’t a crime to tweet a Bible verse or to engage in public discourse with a Christian perspective. The attempts made to prosecute me for expressing my beliefs have resulted in an immensely trying four years, but my hope is that the result will stand as a key precedent to protect the human right to free speech,” she said.
Kristen Waggoner, chief of the ADF, said the case is a “stark reminder of the rising tide of censorship on a global scale.”
She said the organization has cases pending in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The district court had found no justification for any charges, ruling, “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.”
Her original social media statement was addressed to the leadership of her church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and questioned its decision to sponsor the Helsinki Pride Parade in 2019.
She included Bible verses from the book of Romans.
Real Clear Wire documented how she was subjected to many hours of police interrogations and investigators looked through all of her statements and writings for years.
The prosecutors at the appeal court insisted that she had to be considered a criminal because her beliefs, based on the Bible, were insulting to some in society.
WND had reported when 16 members of Congress released a letter calling on U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain and U.S. Ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey to oppose the “egregious and harassing” by Finnish authorities of a Christian member of their parliament.
The 16 House members said in the letter the Räsänen’s case “is dead set on weaponizing the power of Finland’s legal system to silence not just a member of parliament…but millions of Finnish Christians who dare to exercise their natural rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion in the public square.”
It continued, “It is abundantly clear—the process is the punishment.”
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