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UPDATE: The Finnish state prosecutor will appeal the case of Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola to Finland’s Supreme Court, putting the pair back on trial even though they have already been acquitted twice on criminal charges for writing and posting their biblical views on marriage and sexuality.
Räsänen, a Christian who has served for decades as a government official and lawmaker, was originally arrested and charged in 2021 with three counts of ethnic agitation and incitement to hatred following her publishing of a 2004 pamphlet that discussed her church’s views on sexuality, a 2018 interview in which she talked about the biblical view on homosexuality, and a 2019 social media post in which she shared Romans 1:24-27 and criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s celebration of homosexuality.
Pohjola faces the same charges for his role in publishing the 2004 pamphlet.
The two were first unanimously acquitted of all charges by a district court in 2022. During the trial the prosecution claimed that the Bible wasn’t on trial but argued that phrases such as “love the sinner, hate the sin” was hateful and discriminatory to LGBT people and insisted that even the word “sin” is harmful.
The Finnish prosecutor appealed the case to the Helsinki Court of Appeals and argued that Räsänen and Pohjola’s interpretation of Scripture was criminal.
In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals acquitted Räsänen and Pohjola, ruling,
“The Court of Appeal accepts the reasoning and conclusions of the district court’s judgment. The Court of Appeal 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.”
The judges further explained that “there must be an overriding social reason for interfering with and restricting freedom of expression.”
While U.S. criminal defendants are protected against double jeopardy, or being tried for the same crime more than once, Finland’s citizens have no such protections.
As such, the Finnish prosecutor is now using the government’s right to appeal the case all the way to Finland’s Supreme Court. The prosecution is demanding tens of thousands of dollars in fines and that the defendants’ publications be censored.
Räsänen said she welcomes a third opportunity to hopefully secure more protection for freedom of religion and speech. “After my full exoneration in two courts, I’m not afraid of a hearing before the Supreme Court. Even though I am fully aware that every trial carries risks, an acquittal from the Supreme Court would set an even stronger positive precedent for everyone’s right to free speech and religion. And if the Court decided to overturn the lower courts’ acquittals, I am ready to defend freedom of speech and religion as far as the European Court of Human rights, if necessary,” the MP said.
Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International, which represents Räsänen, stated,
“The state’s insistence on continuing this prosecution despite such a clear and unanimous ruling by both the Helsinki District Court and Court of Appeal is alarming. Dragging people through the courts for years, subjecting them to hour-long police interrogations, and wasting taxpayer money in order to police people’s deeply held beliefs has no place in a democratic society. As is so often the case in ‘hate speech’ trials, the process has become of the punishment.”
U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly asked the State Department to place Finland on its religious freedom watchlist over its harassment of Räsänen and Pohjola.
{Published March 30, 2022} In a huge win for religious liberty and free speech, a Finnish court has thrown out all “hate speech” charges against a member of Finland’s Parliament and a Lutheran bishop for quoting the Bible when sharing their faith-based beliefs about same-sex marriage and sexual ethics.
Päivi Räsänen, a grandmother who has served in Finland’s Parliament for decades, was investigated for writing a pamphlet in 2004 outlining her church’s teachings on marriage; participating in a 2018 media interview during which she discussed the biblical view on homosexuality; and posting a social media post in 2019 of an image of Romans 1:24-27.
For this, she was charged with three counts of “ethnic agitation” under the war crimes and crimes against humanity section of the Finnish criminal code. Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola was also charged with hate speech crimes for publishing and distributing Räsänen’s pamphlet.
The court ruled unanimously to dismiss all charges against both defendants on the grounds that “it is not the district court’s job to interpret biblical concepts.” It also ordered the prosecution to pay 60,000 EUR to the defendants to cover their legal costs. The prosecution has seven days to appeal the court’s ruling.
Räsänen, whose legal defense was supported by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, said of her acquittal, “I am so grateful the court recognized the threat to free speech and ruled in our favour. I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after being acquitted. Although I am grateful for having had this chance to stand up for freedom of speech, I hope that this ruling will help prevent others from having to go through the same ordeal.”
ADF International tweeted their celebration for the victory:
“We are thrilled that Päivi has been acquitted of ALL THREE charges, including for sharing her Christian views in a Tweet. In a thundering affirmation of religious freedom, the judgment reads ‘It is not the role of the district court to interpret biblical concepts.’”
The trial of Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola gained international attention and condemnation as it marks one of the first instances in a very long time that a Western nation put citizens on criminal trial for publicly stating their religious beliefs. During the initial police investigation, Räsänen was interrogated for hours about her Christian beliefs, and she was even asked repeatedly to explain her understanding of the Bible.
In a show of solidarity, thousands of supporters gathered outside the courtroom in Helsinki, and another 3,000 stood outside the Finnish embassy in Budapest, Hungary, to hear closing arguments.
Prosecutors, who claimed in their opening statements that the case had nothing to do with the Bible or biblical beliefs, nonetheless put Christian teachings on trial, arguing that, in an age of inclusivity and diversity, statements and beliefs such as “love the sinner, hate the sin” are hateful and discriminatory to LGBT persons and others. The state also argued that using the word “sin” is harmful.
By contrast, Räsänen’s lawyers argued that a conviction would cause significant damage to free speech in Finland, especially since her postings and words were based on her sincerely held religious beliefs and biblical teaching.
The court agreed and found that while others may be offended by her words, she did not intend to “disparage homosexuals.” They noted that “there must be an overriding social reason for interfering with and restricting freedom of expression,” but that reason did not exist in Räsänen’s case.
The prosecution has seven days to appeal the ruling.
This is an important victory for free speech and religious liberty. For Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola, a guilty verdict would have been a gross injustice, but it would have also given the Finnish government free reign to target anyone whose religious views dissented from that of the state and LGBTQ doctrines.
However, the fact that this case ever went to trial shows how far the West has strayed from the ideals of liberal democracy. And make no mistake: this will not be the last time a Western country will attempt to criminalize religious belief and speech. Totalitarianism — powered by the emotional and insular demands of LGBT activists and secular humanists — is clearly on the rise, and the one thing that totalitarians will not tolerate is belief in a higher authority that exists beyond their own power to control and subsume.
If that seems like an exaggeration, consider how “hate speech” laws have become so accepted that no one thinks twice about forcing artists and bakers and florists to say words and express ideas that are anathema to their religious beliefs or where pro-life healthcare providers are forced to perform abortions.
In Canada, where pastors and protesters are now routinely jailed for questioning the wisdom of the state, a new law known as the C-4 bill that bans gay conversion therapy could criminalize Christian teaching if it’s used to help someone accept their God-given biological sex.
The U.S. government doesn’t bat an eye when social media companies block and ban the accounts of people who disagree with LGBTQ arguments or who post unapproved facts or opinions on COVID or other topics. And Congress has even attempted to pass the Equality Act, which would elevate the rights of LGBTQ persons and the abortion trade above everyone else’s God-given rights to religious liberty and conscience and above the safety and security of biological women.
With this one wise ruling, Finland’s court has managed to slow the trampling of religious liberty and free speech, but without doubt, those bent on squashing all dissent and building an increasingly totalitarian and secular society will not stop — not in Finland and not in any other Western democracy either.
The secular totalitarians insist that they only seek inclusivity, tolerance, acceptance, and love, but these are terms that have been twisted in order to deceive Christians into compromising their beliefs and watering down biblical teachings.
To guard against this threat, Christians must stand firmly on the Word of God and stand up for their faith. And if that means there one day comes a cost, as it did for Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola, then, in the words of the long-jailed Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski, “so be it.”
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