Overview
- Finland’s Supreme Court, which ruled Thursday, convicted MP Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola 3–2 over a 2004 church pamphlet, while unanimously acquitting her for a 2019 social media post quoting Romans.
- The court said passages in the pamphlet calling homosexuality a “psychosexual developmental disorder” insulted homosexuals as a group, meeting the crime of “agitation against a minority group” under Chapter 11 of the Penal Code.
- Judges noted the text did not incite violence but still violated the law, and they ordered the removal or destruction of the unlawful passages and a halt to distribution.
- Penalties include an €1,800 fine for Räsänen, fines for Pohjola, and a €5,000 fine for the publishing foundation, with the decision reversing unanimous acquittals by lower courts in 2022 and 2023 after prosecutors appealed.
- The defendants’ legal team said they are considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, as Alliance Defending Freedom and several U.S. politicians warn the precedent could chill religious and political speech in Finland.