In a stunning reversal of previous rulings, Finland’s Supreme Court found Dr. Päivi Räsänen, a Christian legislator and former government minister, guilty of the country’s hate speech laws on March 26.  

“I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression,” Dr. Räsänen said in a statement after the ruling. “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.” 

Päivi Räsänen has become a familiar name among international religious freedom defenders, though not for the reasons she deserves. Dr. Räsänen served her country in Finland’s legislature, then as the country’s Minister of the Interior, and is a dedicated mother, grandmother, and medical doctor. 

However, Dr. Räsänen came into international attention when she was criminally charged with hate speech against the LGBTQ community. The alleged acts concerned a 2019 tweet with a Bible verse questioning the Lutheran denomination’s support of a pride parade, along with statements in 2004 she made in a church pamphlet and a radio debate sharing her beliefs on Biblical marriage and sexuality. 

Dr. Räsänen, along with the Lutheran bishop who published the pamphlet, was criminally investigated and then charged with “agitation against a minority group” back in 2021. Since then, a trial court and an appeals court have heard the case, and both courts found them not guilty. However, Finland is one of the only nations that allows “not guilty” verdicts to be appealed, and the prosecution has insisted on taking this case to the country’s highest court. 

In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld her “not guilty” verdict for hate speech for the 2019 tweet. However, the court chose to overturn the lower courts’ acquittal concerning her statements in the 2004 church pamphlet and found her guilty of hate speech.  

According to ADF International, which has been representing Dr. Räsänen in court, “The [Finnish] 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.’”   

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