Finnish prosecutor revives ‘Bible Trial’ hate speech charges against Christian politician

A Finnish evangelical Christian who is a member of parliament was recently acquitted of hate speech charges for saying homosexuality is a sin, but she is not yet off the hook.

The country’s state prosecutor general on Friday appealed the not guilty verdict for Paivi Rasanen, who dubbed her court battle the “Bible Trial.”

Unlike many nations, Finland’s laws allow a prosecutor to appeal a “not guilty” verdict.

When the prosecutor first signaled her intention to appeal, the move was blasted by Paul Coleman, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom International who is defending Mrs. Rasanen.

“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,” Mr. Coleman said.

A Helsinki on March 30 acquitted Mrs. Rasanen, who is also a former interior minister, of “hate speech” for her statements on Twitter, talk radio and in a 2004 book defending the traditional Christian view of marriage and sexuality.

In clearing Mrs. Rasanen, a three-judge panel wrote that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” The judges ordered the prosecutor general to pay 60,000 Euros, or $63,228.42, to cover the defendant’s legal costs.

Now, the prosecutor wants another go at Mrs. Rasanen.

She said she’s the victim of an overzealous prosecutor and trumped-up charges.

“This legal process against me, with all the investigations and interrogations, has lasted almost three years already and now it seems it will last for years to come,” Mrs. Rasanen said in an email. “For me, the most difficult thing has been hearing the prosecutor’s false accusations about my statements. It would be better if the prosecutor actually stuck to things I said, instead of continuing to put false statements and allegations before the courts.”

She expects the case to ultimately go to Finland’s Supreme Court and perhaps even the European Court of Human Rights.

“I am ready to defend freedom of speech and religion in all necessary courts,” she said.

Within days of her acquittal, prosecutor Raija Toiviainen indicated dissatisfaction with the verdict and denied the court’s claim that “false information” was provided in the indictment.

“There is nothing false about the charges. The prosecutor has today expressed dissatisfaction with the entire verdict,” Ms. Toiviainen’s office said after the trial. 

The prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mrs. Rasanen said she stands by her actual statements.

“The prosecutor claims in this appeal that I said in the 2004 pamphlet that ‘all homosexuals are and should be regarded as inferior,’” she said. “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.’”

The case began in 2019 after Mrs. Rasanen tweeted about the Finnish state-supported Lutheran church supporting a gay pride parade. She said her message, quoting a Bible verse about homosexuality, was intended to chide church officials, not to shame gays. She also made similar statements in a radio talk show interview and the 2004 booklet.

Mrs. Rasanen’s case attracted international support with rallies across Europe and, last September, outside Finland’s embassy in Washington.

In April, the National Committee for Religious Freedom, headed by former U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, said, Ms. Toiviainen “does not believe that religious speech is free speech. We must not allow government officials to decide what religions can teach.”

Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the National Committee for Religious Freedom.