{"id":24063,"date":"2026-03-28T03:49:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=24063"},"modified":"2026-03-28T03:49:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:49:51","slug":"paivi-rasanen-shocked-and-profoundly-disappointed-after-being-convicted-over-pamphlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=24063","title":{"rendered":"P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen ‘shocked and profoundly disappointed’ after being convicted over pamphlet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen<\/span>\u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n

Finnish MP P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen has been criminally convicted for publishing a pamphlet in which she expressed a traditional view of marriage and sexuality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Finnish Supreme Court found her guilty of “hate speech” on one charge relating to the beliefs she expressed in the 2004 pamphlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who co-published the pamphlet, was also convicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court found them guilty because the pamphlet was \u201cmade available to the public and kept available to the public opinions that insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The judgment added that \u201cafter a preliminary investigation into the matter was launched in 2019, Ra\u0308sa\u0308nen continued to share the article on her own internet and social media pages in 2019 and 2020\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was unanimously acquitted of a 2019 Bible verse tweet in which she criticised her church’s decision to sponsor a Pride event. The court unanimously held that it did not meet the criteria for the offence of incitement as she \u201cjustified her opinion by citing a biblical text\u201d among other things.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She and the bishop now face fines of several thousand euros and the court has ordered that the offending statements be \u201cremoved from public access and destroyed”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

R\u00e4s\u00e4nen, who is the former Minister of the Interior, was convicted under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled \u201cwar crimes and crimes against humanity\u201d. She had previously been acquitted on all charges by two lower courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She admitted she was “shocked” by Thursday’s verdict and said she is now considering taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed 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\u2019s right to share their convictions in the public square,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.”\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters later, she said the mixed outcome “sends a troubling and contradictory message about the state of fundamental freedoms in Finland”, but that she was trusting in God and believed “there is some purpose” to her seven-year legal battle. She also said the ruling would not stop her from expressing her beliefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand the court has affirmed that expressing one\u2019s beliefs – even on matters that may be considered controversial – is not a crime. That is an important recognition,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo democratic society can function without the robust protection of free speech, including the freedom to express religious convictions in the public square. The final acquittal on this charge is a key victory in protecting free speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, by convicting me for expressing beliefs in a different context, the court has drawn an unclear, and I believe, dangerous line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting on the verdict, Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF International, said, \u201cFreedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy. It is right that the Court has acquitted P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen for her 2019 Bible verse tweet.<\/p>\n

“However, the conviction for a simple church pamphlet published decades ago \u2013 before the law under which she has been convicted was even passed \u2013 is an outrageous example of state censorship. This decision will create a severe chilling effect for everyone\u2019s right to speak freely.”<\/p>\n

Mr Coleman told reporters later that the ruling “sets a new low bar for free speech in Europe”, and is likely to have ramifications beyond Finland due to similar “vaguely worded” hate speech laws in other European countries.<\/p>\n

He further warned that by cherry picking passages from a booklet published over 20 years ago, and before the law used as the basis for the prosecution had even come into existence, the verdict had created “impossible legal standards” and blurred the line between free speech and criminality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ADF CEO, Kristen Waggoner, said, \u201cThis ruling is a stark reminder that no democracy is immune from the erosion of fundamental freedoms. Punishing peaceful expression, especially when it is based on deeply held religious convictions, undermines the very foundation of free societies.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen\u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock) Finnish MP P\u00e4ivi R\u00e4s\u00e4nen has been criminally convicted for publishing a pamphlet in which she expressed a traditional view of marriage and sexuality.\u00a0 The Finnish Supreme Court found her guilty of “hate speech” on one charge relating to the beliefs she expressed in the 2004 pamphlet.\u00a0 Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who co-published<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[3076,2160,419,8009,8008,420,4102],"class_list":["post-24063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-convicted","tag-disappointed","tag-paivi","tag-pamphlet","tag-profoundly","tag-rasanen","tag-shocked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}