Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament, has been convicted by the nation’s supreme court for a religious pamphlet published in 2004.
The court found Räsänen, who has been entangled in legal tumoil for over four years, guilty of “incitement against a minority group.” The Lutheran pamphlet — titled “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Understanding of Humanity” — described homosexuality as a “developmental disorder.”
“I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression,” the member of parliament said following the judgment. “I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith, and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square.
“This is not about my free speech alone, but that of every person in Finland,” she said. “A positive ruling would help to prevent other innocent people from experiencing the same ordeal for simply sharing their beliefs.”
The court voted 3-2 in favor of convicting her of “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group,” alongside Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola for publishing the pamphlet. They initially heard the case in October of last year.
Räsänen will be required to pay a nearly $2,100 fine for her “hate speech” infraction, which falls under the legal category of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” according to Finnish law. She will also be required to cover her own legal fees.
The bishop’s publishing house, Finnish Lutheran Foundation, will also be required to pay a fine of almost $6,000.
Räsänen has been pursued with legal action multiple times over the past decade for her religious positions, beginning in 2019 when she quoted the Bible against the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s participation in an LGBT Pride event.
“How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?” she asked in the 2019 tweet.
State prosecutors attempted to convict her for the pamphlet, the social media post, and her comments during a radio roundtable in 2019 on the topic of homosexuality and Christianity.
The Helsinki District Court acquitted her of all three counts in 2022. Prosecutors then took the charges to the Court of Appeals, which also acquitted her in 2023.
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While the Supreme Court found her guilty in relation to the pamphlet, the judges unanimously acquitted her of the hate speech charge related to her 2019 social media post.
Prosecutors did not seek to appeal the case related to her appearance on the debate program, so no ruling was given.
Räsänen has previously testified before the U.S. Congress on the subject of censorship in Europe and the suppression of religious sentiment.
She is reportedly considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.