In a 3-2 decision, the Finnish Supreme Court convicted Dr. Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola of “insulting” homosexual-identified individuals in a church pamphlet written and published in 2004.
According to ADF International, which coordinated their defense along with criminal defense lawyer Matti Sankamo, “She was charged under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’ for sharing her Christian beliefs on marriage and sexual ethics.”
“The conviction is for ‘making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group,’” the legal aid group added.
Following the ruling, Dr. Räsänen stated:
I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression. I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square.
Separately, the court unanimously acquitted Dr. Räsänen for posting Romans 1:24-27 on X in 2019 when the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland announced its partnership with LGBT Pride 2019.
In her post, she asked the question:
How does the church’s doctrine, the #raamattu [Holy Bible], align with elevating shame and sin to a source of pride?
In addition to being a medical doctor, Räsänen is a grandmother who was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1995 and has served continuously since then. In 2004, she wrote a 21-page pamphlet for the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity.”
As dean of the foundation, Bishop Pohjola published the pamphlet, which the court said “was intended as teaching material … [and] had been distributed to researchers and to the parishes operating within the foundation.”
The law prohibiting “ethnic agitation” was passed in Finland in 1970, with a provision adding sexual orientation as a protected characteristic in 2011. The Finnish Parliament redefined marriage to include same-sex unions in 2014.
In 2019, the pamphlet was republished and shared on social media. Only then was a police report filed and a preliminary investigation initiated, the court explained.
The pamphlet begins by describing the social and political debate in Finland surrounding same-sex partnerships, which were approved by an Act of Parliament in 2001. Dr. Räsänen wrote:
During the processing of this Act, it was affirmed to the Church, and to Christians concerned about the consequences, that the Church could retain its own values and views on homosexuality.
Promises made, promises broken.
The pamphlet then went on to discuss the importance of male-female marriage and the breakdown of sexual ethics in the culture. She wrote,
The family (mother and father) is the most important unit in our society, and marriage is per se the most secure model for family life. The well-being of families determines the well-being of society. …
Marriage is a family support network whose primary purpose is to provide children with a stable mental home and lasting human relationships.
Dr. Räsänen then discussed homosexuality in individuals, saying:
Medical studies have obtained no proof for the claims that homosexuality is genetic, hereditary or inborn. Without any exception, talks of the discovery of homosexual genes have proved false. On the other hand, it is true that people seldom consciously decide to become homosexual. …
Instead, the scientific material unequivocally proves that homosexuality is a disorder of psycho-sexual development.
Finland’s highest court pointed to sections like this, saying,
The article does not consider homosexuals to be of equal value to heterosexuals, because the article does not consider homosexuality to be a natural variation of sexuality andclaims that it is sexually deviant, while heterosexuality is presented as a standard of normality towards which a homosexual can potentially become whole.
The Supreme Court found that these “statements have insulted homosexuals as a group on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Since this medical section of the article did not make “religious statements,” the court found itwas not protected speech:
Since tolerance and respect for the equal dignity of all persons are the foundations of a democratic and pluralistic society, there may be sufficient grounds for restricting freedom of expression where the aim is to prevent all forms of expression which spread, encourage, promote or justify hatred based on intolerance (including religious intolerance).
Executive Director of ADF International Paul Coleman decried the conviction, saying:
Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy. It is right that the Court has acquitted Päivi Räsänen for her 2019 Bible verse tweet. However, the conviction for a simple church pamphlet published decades ago – before the law under which she has been convicted was even passed – is an outrageous example of state censorship. This decision will create a severe chilling effect for everyone’s right to speak freely.
ADF International explained the penalties for Dr. Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola, “The Supreme Court has imposed criminal fines of several thousands of Euros and ruled that the impugned statements must be “removed from public access and destroyed” (their emphasis).
The case has been working its way through the court system since 2021, and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is being considered.
Related articles and resources:
Finnish Member of Parliament Found Not Guilty of Hate Speech for Quoting the Bible
Finland Prosecutes Christian Member of Parliament for Hate Speech After Quoting Bible