A longstanding Finnish parliamentarian criminally convicted in March for “insulting” a group by her country’s Supreme Court has announced that she will appeal her case to the European Court of Human Rights, in the final legal juncture for this critical case for free speech in Europe.
Päivi Räsänen was found guilty for expressing her beliefs about marriage and sexuality in a booklet she wrote for her church over 20 years ago.
The appeal comes after the former Interior Minister’s nearly seven-year prosecution and unanimous acquittal by two lower courts in Finland. In March 2026, a mixed Supreme Court ruling acquitted Räsänen for her 2019 Bible verse tweet, but convicted her and Bishop Pohjola for “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group” in the 2004 church booklet on sexual ethics, according to a 3:2 majority.
Commenting on her decision to appeal, Räsänen said: “The failure of the Finnish Supreme Court to uphold freedom of speech has set a dangerous precedent in my country and across Europe. I feel it is my duty to appeal this decision, to reinstate respect for the basic human right that all are free to peacefully express their views in the public square.”
“I know I am not alone in facing unjust persecution under ‘hate speech’ laws that make sharing Christian beliefs a criminal offense. I make my appeal in the hope that the European Court of Human Rights will recognise that peacefully expressing one’s beliefs is never a crime, and ensure that this basic freedom is protected for all.”
Final chance for freedom to prevail
Räsänen, a long-serving parliamentarian, medical doctor, and grandmother of twelve, has been criminally prosecuted for nearly seven years for sharing her Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality in a 2019 tweet and live radio debate, as well as for authoring the 2004 church booklet, for which she was charged alongside Bishop Pohjola and the Luther Foundation Finland.
In 2021, Räsänen was formally charged with “agitation against a minority group” under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
Following unanimous acquittals on all charges by two lower courts in 2022 and 2023, the state prosecutor appealed again to the Finnish Supreme Court regarding the tweet and church booklet. The case was heard in October 2025, and in March 2026 the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal for the Bible verse tweet, but convicted Räsänen and the Bishop for the 2004 booklet. The radio show charge was not appealed to the Supreme Court, so that acquittal stands.
The Supreme Court convicted Räsänen under a law that was introduced years after the booklet was published, and did so despite the court’s admission that the booklet “did not contain incitement to violence or comparable threat-like fomenting of hatred”.
In an alarming display of censorship, the Supreme Court fined Räsänen, Bishop Pohjola, and the Luther Foundation Finland several thousand Euros, and ruled that the condemned statements within the booklet must be “removed from public access and destroyed”.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to convict myself and the Luther Foundation for publishing a booklet for our church was extremely disappointing,” added Bishop Pohjola. “As a Bishop, I have a responsibility to guide those under my pastoral care, and I am deeply concerned by the state’s extensive efforts to censor our publications and decide what can and cannot be taught by religious leaders to members of their own group.
“It is our intention to join Päivi Räsänen in appealing to the European Court of Human Rights in defence of our free speech and religious freedom rights, and those of everyone in Finland.”
An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is the final legal opportunity for the conviction to be overturned, and marks a seminal moment for the fundamental right to free speech to be upheld in Finland and throughout Europe.
“Hate speech” laws enabling state censorship
Räsänen’s case has garnered significant international interest, with the prosecution’s extensive criticism of Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola’s beliefs provoking high-profile responses, including from the US State Department.
Senior Finnish officials also questioned the ruling: Justice Minister Leena Meri argued that the legislation is “not sufficiently precise and especially not predictable as required by the principle of legality in the criminal code,” adding that “it is very difficult for people to know what is prohibited and what is permitted”.
The judgment has exacerbated existing concerns about the precarious state of free speech across Europe, where vaguely worded “hate speech” laws are increasingly wielded to silence dissenting views.
The appeal of Räsänen, who will be represented by ADF International, has significant global implications for freedom of speech.
“The retroactive censorship of a 20-year-old booklet produced by and for a church community is among the most chilling developments in the ongoing attack on freedom of speech across Europe,” said Lorcán Price, legal counsel with ADF International, serving on Räsänen’s legal team.
“As subjective ‘hate speech’ laws are increasingly being used to silence and criminalise peaceful expression of beliefs, the European Court of Human Rights has a responsibility to decisively protect the freedom of expression that is necessary in a truly democratic society.
“The ‘hate speech’ laws used to convict Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola clearly contradict international human rights law regarding freedom of speech and freedom of religion. If such laws can be interpreted so broadly as to include a decades-old church booklet, how can anyone in Finland be certain that anything they have said, or will say, will not be prosecuted? It is imperative that the European Court of Human Rights clarify and protect these fundamental freedoms definitively.”
