Päivi Räsänen calls for repeal of hate speech laws across Europe after shock conviction

Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen has called for a repeal of all European “hate speech” laws, following her conviction by the Finnish Supreme Court.

Räsänen was initially investigated in 2019 for a pamphlet published in 2004 that promote traditional Christian views on marriage and sexuality. Despite being acquitted twice previously within the lower courts, state prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, resulting in her recent conviction.

The Supreme Court ruled that the pamphlet, which Räsänen continued to share after she was charged, “made available to the general public and kept available to the general public opinions that insult homosexuals as a bunch on the idea of their sexual orientation.”

Following her conviction Räsänen said it was false to say that freedom of speech is “alive and well” in Europe.

Referring to Lutheran bishop Juhana Pohjola, who co-authored the pamphlet and was also found guilty, Räsänen said, “the bishop and I are ‘criminals’ for peacefully sharing our beliefs in the general public square by means of the pamphlet.

“I wrote the pamphlet years before the law under which I even have been prosecuted was passed. In finding me guilty, the Court acknowledged that the content in query didn’t incite violence or hatred. Even so, it ruled that expressing those views in that context was criminal.”

Räsänen argued that the court judgment, which orders the destruction of the pamphlet, is censorship that takes Europe back to a darker time in its history.

The ambiguity within the laws over what exactly constitutes “hate speech” also serves, she argues, as a way of censoring people who find themselves unsure what would and wouldn’t fall foul of the law. She further warned that more people could also be prosecuted for past comments.

Räsänen’s case has drawn the eye of the European Evangelical Alliance, which expressed its disappointment within the ruling and called for freedom of speech across Europe. 

In an announcement, it said, “The EEA affirms the dignity and protection of all people, including those that discover as LGBTQ+, and rejects all types of hatred and violence.

“At the identical time, it’s deeply concerned that this ruling lowers the brink for criminalising peaceful expression and risks setting a troubling precedent for freedom of expression and religion across Europe.”