Finnish Supreme Court to hear hate speech case against Christian MP despite her 2 past acquittals

Originally published in Worthy News

Finland’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a years-long case brought by the country’s prosecutor general against Dr Päivi Räsänen, a Christian member of parliament who was charged – and acquitted – of hate speech after publicly expressing her opposition to homosexuality, CBN News reports.

Asserting her protected rights to freedom of speech and religion, Räsänen has indicated she will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights should the Finnish Supreme Court rule against her.

In a case that was launched in 2017, Räsänen was prosecuted after she wrote a social media post criticizing her denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, for supporting an LGBTQ Pride event at the time. An investigation led to the unearthing of a pamphlet she had authored 20 years earlier in which she stated her belief that the Bible forbids homosexuality. Charges pertaining to hate speech against the LGBTQ community were subsequently filed against her.

After protracted litigation, and with the threat of a prison sentence over her head, Räsänen was unanimously acquitted for a second time by a court of appeals in November last year – after the prosecutor appealed a lower court’s original acquittal, CBN News reports.

The prosecutor was not content to let the matter rest even after the appeals court acquittal and has asked Finland’s highest court to weigh in: the prosecution reportedly wants the Supreme Court to convict Räsänen, ban her pamphlet, and order her to pay thousands of euros in fines, CBN News said.

“The Supreme Court has today announced that it will give the prosecutor general the permission to appeal the unanimous acquittal of the Helsinki Court of Appeal concerning the charges about my statements,” Räsänen said in a press release last Friday. “I have, however, a peaceful mind and I am ready to continue to defend free speech and freedom of religion before the Supreme Court and, if need be, also before the European Court of Human Rights,” Räsänen said.

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