Finnish politician faces prison for publicly supporting true marriage
A Finnish member of parliament is facing two years in prison and tens of thousands of euros in fines for supporting true marriage.
Closing arguments wrapped up Friday in the trial of 63-year-old Päivi Räsänen, a parliamentarian, medical doctor and former Finnish interior minister. In 2004 Räsänen published a pamphlet for her church, titled “As Man and Woman He Created Them” which cited the Bible’s exclusive endorsement of marriage between man and woman. In a 2019 tweet, Räsänen criticized Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church for sponsoring a same-sex celebration event, questioning such a move’s consistency with the Bible. That year she also expressed the same sentiment in a radio debate.
For those actions, Räsänen has been charged with “ethnic agitation” which falls under “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the Finnish criminal code. Finnish Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who helped Räsänen write the 2004 pamphlet, was tried alongside her.
Though a Finnish district court dismissed all charges against them last year, prosecutors appealed the case. Now Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola await the Helsinki Court of Appeal’s verdict by November 30th.
Prosecutors argued in court last week that while quoting the Bible is permissible, Räsänen’s interpretations of the Bible are criminal. And even if her Biblical exegesis is correct, added the prosecutor, it is “offensive to certain people” and therefore should not have been said.
According to ADF International, a free speech organization which is handling Räsänen’s legal defense, the prosecutor tried to get Räsänen to renounce her beliefs.
“The gist of the State prosecutor’s examination of Päivi was this: would she recant her beliefs? The answer was no – she will not deny the teachings of her faith,” said ADF International Executive Director Paul Coleman in a statement. “Dragging an individual through a grueling criminal trial simply for expressing their religious beliefs is not a marker of democracy and ‘progress’. We will continue to stand with Päivi and await the decision of the court as to whether expressing Biblical teaching is really a crime in Finland.”
Räsänen, a mother of five and grandmother of ten, has spent an estimated 13 hours in interrogation since the Finnish Prosecutor General indicted her last year.
