HELSINKI (LifeSiteNews) – The prosecutor general of Finland announced Friday that she intends to appeal the unanimous March 30 acquittal of a Christian member of parliament and a Lutheran bishop who faced charges for defending Christian marriage.
Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola were charged with “ethnic agitation,” or inciting hate against a protected minority, last year by Finnish Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen in response to a book by Räsänen published in 2004 by Pohjola.
The book, Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian conception of humanity, defended the traditional Christian definition of marriage. Additional charges were brought against Räsänen for a tweet she published criticizing the Lutheran Church of Finland’s participation in a “pride” parade and for speaking out against homosexual “marriage” on Finnish radio in 2019.
“The prosecutor’s decision to appeal the acquittal verdict may lead to the case going all the way to the Supreme Court, giving the possibility of securing precedent protecting freedom of speech and religion from all Finnish people,” said Räsänen in a statement Friday.
“Also I am happy that this decision will lead to the discussion of the teaching in Bible [sic] continuing in Finnish society. I am ready to defend freedom of speech and religion in all necessary courts, and as far as the European Court of Human rights.”
Toiviainen expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s decision in the days following the trial. Reacting to the court’s claim that false information was provided for the indictment served Räsänen and Pohjola, her office said, “There is nothing false about the charges.” According to Toiviainen, the arguments presented by Räsänen and Pohjola treated homosexuals as inferior to heterosexuals.
Reacting to the charges brought against her, Räsänen said, “The prosecutor claims in this appeal that I said in the 2004 pamphlet that ‘all homosexuals are and should be regarded as inferior’; in fact, I have never said that and I do not hold that view now or in the past … On the contrary, in the pamphlet, I state that ‘According to the Christian concept of humanity, everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is equal and of equal value.”
Paul Coleman, a lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International who is defending Räsänen and Pohjola, told the Washington Times that “Dragging people through the courts for years, subjecting them to hour-long police interrogations, and wasting taxpayer money in order to police people’s deeply held beliefs has no place in a democratic society. As is so often the case in ‘hate speech’ trials, the process has become part of the punishment.”
In a piece for Fox News, Republican Congressman Chip Roy and Sean Nelson of ADF International said that “The prosecutor’s decision to appeal the case is not only absurd. It paints a clear picture of what is to come for people of faith if the West continues barreling down a path that is increasingly hostile to free speech and, especially evident in this case, Christian belief.”
“Fortunately,” they conclude, “the ridiculous crusade against Räsänen and Pohjola has failed – for now. Rather than silencing them, the prosecutor has turned them into international voices for liberty, eager to tell the world about their fight against persecution.”
Räsänen won international support last year in the face of her trial. Roy was one of several congressmen who in November of last year wrote a letter to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) demanding that action be taken against Finland for the persecution of Räsänen and Pohjola. A similar letter was drafted by several U.S. senators last January.
In Hungary, over 3,000 people demonstrated in front of the Finnish embassy in Budapest in support of Räsänen. Demonstrations also took place in front of the courthouse in Helsinki. She also received support letters from representatives of various Christian denominations, including Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Pentecostal, and Unitarian leaders.