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[UPDATE] The Supreme Court of Finland has agreed to hear an appeal from the State Prosecutor to put Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola on trial for a third time on two charges of hate speech.
The two defendants were acquitted of all charges in March 2022 in the Helsinki District Court and then, after the State Prosecutor appealed, acquitted a second time in November 2023 by a Court of Appeal.
Unlike the U.S., Finland has no protections against double jeopardy, which is why Räsänen and Pohjola can be tried again despite the pair having been twice found not guilty of the same criminal charges.
Finland’s Supreme Court made the announcement this past Friday. No date for the trial has been scheduled as yet.
The State Prosecutor first brought charges against the pair in April 2021 for three instances of hate speech and “agitation against minorities” under the category of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Finland’s criminal code.
Those charges stem from a Twitter post by Räsänen criticizing the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s endorsement of homosexuality, a radio interview during which she discussed the biblical view of homosexuality, and a pamphlet that she and the bishop published two decades ago discussing the church’s views on marriage, titled “Male and Female He Created Them.”
The prosecution is letting the court’s decision on radio interview stand but has appealed the acquittals on the 2019 tweet and the 2004 pamphlet. Nonetheless, the State Prosecutor is still asking the court to punish Räsänen and Pohjola with tens of thousands of Euros in fines and a ban on their ability to publish their beliefs in the future.
In a statement, Bishop Pohjola said he is not surprised the Supreme Court took up the case but that he is confident the court will fully acquit him and Räsänen and their right to free speech and religious expression.
He explained that “Everyone has the right to hear and to know for certain that the teaching about marriage between a man and a woman, about the Christian concept of humanity, and about sexual ethics based on the Bible and natural law is not hate speech or incitement against a group of people, even if some might find such offensive. Neither hatred nor discrimination can guide a Christian, but only Christ’s love and respect for every human being.”
Räsänen said she is “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.”
She continued,
“In my case the investigation has lasted almost five years, has involved untrue accusations, several long police interrogations totaling more than 13 hours, preparations for court hearings, the District Court hearing, and a hearing in the Court of Appeal. This was not just about my opinions, but about everyone’s freedom of expression. I hope that with the ruling of the Supreme Court, others would not have to undergo the same ordeal. I have considered it a privilege and an honor to defend freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right in a democratic state.”
Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International, Räsänen’s legal counsel, issued a statement calling this a “watershed moment” in “Europe’s creeping censorship.” Coleman said that what Räsänen and Pohjola are facing is like a “heresy trial” because they hold different beliefs than what the state believes to be orthodox.
{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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