Finnish court acquits politician who shared Bible verse

A Court of Appeals found Päivi Räsänen, a member of Parliament, not guilty on Tuesday of committing hate speech by sharing Bible verses and backing traditional Biblical views on sexuality. Räsänen, 63, was charged with breaking the national statute on “war crimes and crimes against humanity” and faced up to two years in prison. Finnish state prosecutor Anu Mantila said her office is “seriously considering” appealing the verdict to the Supreme Court of Finland.

What problem did prosecutors have with her statements? Prosecutors filed charges over a social media post that Räsänen shared in 2019 questioning why the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland would take part in an LGBT pride march. She included an image of Romans 1:24-27. She was also charged for authoring the 2004 pamphlet “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relations Challenge the Christian Concept of Humanity.” 

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report in Liberties about Räsänen’s recent trial.