Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen has been found guilty of hate speech by the Supreme Court of Finland in connection with a pamphlet she co-authored more than two decades ago.
The ruling, issued Thursday, determined that a 2004 publication describing homosexuality as a psychosexual disorder violated Finnish law, resulting in a fine for the veteran lawmaker.
Räsänen, who previously led the Christian Democratic Party (Finland) from 2004 to 2015 and served as Finland’s interior minister between 2011 and 2015, was convicted in a narrow 3–2 decision. According to a statement from Alliance Defending Freedom International, the court found her guilty of “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group.”
The case traces back to a 2019 social media post in which Räsänen quoted Bible passages from Romans 1:24–27 while criticizing the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for supporting LGBT Pride events. In the post, she questioned how the church could endorse what she described as “shame and sin” being presented as “a matter of pride.”
During the investigation, authorities also revisited a 2004 pamphlet Räsänen authored with Juhana Pohjola, titled “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity.”
The court determined that portions of the text, including statements describing homosexuality as disordered, could “insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation.”
At the same time, the justices acknowledged limits to the severity of the case, noting that “it must be taken into account that the text forming the basis for the conviction did not contain incitement to violence or comparable threat-like fomenting of hatred. The conduct is therefore not particularly serious in terms of the nature of the offense.”
Räsänen was convicted under Chapter 11 of Finland’s Penal Code, which addresses “agitation against a minority group.” She was ordered to pay a fine of 1,800 euros (about $2,080), and the court prohibited further distribution of the pamphlet in both physical and digital forms.
The case marks the third round of legal proceedings for Räsänen and Pohjola, who had previously been acquitted unanimously by both the Helsinki District Court and the Helsinki Court of Appeal.
While the Supreme Court upheld the conviction related to the pamphlet, it cleared Räsänen of charges stemming from her 2019 tweet, ruling that she “justified her opinion by citing a biblical text.”
Responding to the decision, Räsänen expressed disappointment and concern over its implications for free speech.
She said she was “shocked and profoundly disappointed” by the ruling and accused the court of failing “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,” she said.
“I am taking legal advice on a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is not about my free speech alone, but that of every person in Finland. A positive ruling would help to prevent other innocent people from experiencing the same ordeal for simply sharing their beliefs.”
