Finnish Grandmother In Court Facing ‘Hate Speech’ Charges For Bible Verse
Päivi Räsänen — a grandmother, doctor and longstanding member of the Finnish Parliament — is headed to court for the second time for simply tweeting a Bible verse.
In 2019, Räsänen tweeted at her church — questioning their decision to sponsor a local pride parade, which obviously goes against the teachings in the Bible. In the tweet, she attached a scripture passage.
For this simple tweet, Räsänen has been criminally charged with “hate speech” — and has been targeted through this malicious prosecution for four years at the hands of Finland’s government.
Räsänen was interrogated by police for 13 hours over her tweet, where authorities dug into her past and charged her with three counts of “agitation against a minority group” not only for her tweet — but also for a 2004 church pamphlet and a 2019 radio appearance.
Bishop Juhana Pohjola of Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was also charged for publishing the pamphlet, which explains a Biblical understanding of marriage and relationships. These charges carry a punishment of tens of thousands of euros in fines, as well as the potential for a two-year prison sentence.
Räsänen was unanimously acquitted by the Helsinki District Court in March 2022, with the court declaring in their ruling that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” Unfortunately for Räsänen, that was not the end of her troubles — as Finland’s legal system is terribly constructed. According to The Federalist, “the law in Finland allows for legal double jeopardy — prosecutors can appeal all the way to the Supreme Court on the mere basis of dissatisfaction with the verdict.”
Räsänen and Pohjola’s next court appearances are scheduled for August 31.
U.S. lawmakers have spoken out against the “egregious and harassing” prosecution in a letter to U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Rashad Hussain and U.S. ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey.
In the letter, the 16 lawmakers highlighted the severe implications of Räsänen’s prosecution.
“This prosecutor is dead set on weaponizing the power of Finland’s legal system to silence not just a member of parliament and Lutheran bishop but millions of Finnish Christians who dare to exercise their natural rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion in the public square,” read the letter, which was sent on August 8.
“No American, no Fin, and no human should face legal harassment for simply living out their religious beliefs,” the letter continued, adding: “The selective targeting of these high-profile individuals is designed to systematically chill others’ speech under the threat of legal harassment and social astigmatism.”
The Biden administration has claimed that it privately raised concerns about Räsänen’s case with the Finnish government, but thus far the administration has made no public condemnations of the malicious prosecution.
