A Finnish member of Parliament has been acquitted in case where she was accused of hate speech for criticising The Finnish Lutheran Church’s sponsorship of a Gay Pride Parade, in a 2019 tweet, along with a picture of a quote from the biblical Book of Romans, condemning homosexuality.
Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen, who is a doctor and former Minister of the Interior, was called multiple times for questioning by Finnish police, who investigated other writings going back 20 years. Räsänen was finally charged with three counts of hate speech, under a law forbidding “ethnic agitation”. Besides the tweet, she was charged over defending marriage as being between a man and a woman, in a pamphlet published in 2004. Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola was also charged for publishing the pamphlet.
During the trial the prosecution argued that this case was not about the Bible, or the MP’s beliefs, but about alleged hate speech. In closing arguments, it said that the use of the word “sin” could be harmful, and called for a guilty verdict and heavy fines.
In a decision announced on 30 March the Helsinki District Court acquitted both Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola of all charges and ordered the prosecution to pay more than €60,000 in legal costs. The prosecution now has seven days to appeal the ruling.
According to a press release issued by ADF International, which contributed to Mrs Räsänen’s defence, the Court recognised that while some may object to her statements, “there must be an overriding social reason for interfering with and restricting freedom of expression”, concluding there was no such justification in this case.
In a public statement following her acquittal, Päivi Räsänen expressed gratitude and the hope nobody else will have to suffer prosecution for their beliefs. “I am so grateful the court recognised 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.”
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