Court Dismisses Hate Crime Charges Against Finnish Politician for Posting Bible Verse
Published on November 17, 2023
A Finnish court on Tuesday dismissed all hate speech charges for a second time against Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen after she publicly expressed her Christian beliefs on marriage and sexual ethics. Ms. Räsänen, Finland’s former Interior Minister, was charged with “agitation against a minority group” in 2021 for breaking the national statute on “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Prosecutors filed charges over a 2019 post that Ms. Räsänen shared, in which she questioned her church’s sponsorship of an LGBT pride event. In the post, she referenced Romans 1:24-27, which states that homosexual activity is against God’s will....