“If peaceful expression like an old booklet can be criminalised and retroactively censored, free and open debate in Europe is no more”, say lawyers of the Finnish parliamentarian.
ADF ·
STRASBOURG ·
27 JULY 2026 · 22:00 CET
Päivi Räsänen. / Photo ADF.
The Finnish doctor and parliamentarian, Päivi Räsänen, has recently appealed her conviction for inciting hatred to the European Court of Human Rights.
“Appealing my conviction is about much more than a fine or a decades-old church booklet”, stressed Räsänen after the filing of her appeal.
For the Christian doctor, her case “stands to determine whether the fundamental rights of religious freedom and free speech are still protected in Finland and across Europe, and whether these societies are still willing to stand up for the rights of all, even those they disagree with”.
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“As a Member of Parliament and a Christian who has faced censorship and years of criminal investigation, I am profoundly aware of the devastating consequences of curtailing basic liberties”, stated Räsänen.
That is why she believes that “the European Court of Human Rights must decisively uphold these freedoms and promote the common good across Europe”.
Pohjola: “The court must affirm religious freedom”
Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who was also convicted, is appealing too.
“If authorities can censor religious teaching and dictate how faith leaders instruct their followers, religion becomes a tool of the state rather than a means to freedom and human flourishing”, he said.
According to Pohjola, “the European Court of Human Rights must recognise this fact, and once again affirm that religious freedom, which is inseparable from freedom of expression, must be protected in a pluralistic and free society”.
Protecting freedoms
Lorcán Price, barrister at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) who represents Räsänen before the European Court, pointed out that they “must now decide whether European law will continue to protect the freedom to peacefully express one’s beliefs; because if peaceful expression like a decades-old church booklet can be criminalised and retroactively censored, free and open debate in Europe is no more”.
“We urge the Court to admit this case, which presents a critical opportunity to reaffirm these basic freedoms and ensure that citizens are not prosecuted for peacefully expressing their beliefs”, he concluded.
Rejected in the UK
Räsänen has filed the appeal, just a few weeks after she was banned from entering in the United Kingdom.
The UK informed the Christian politician that her Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which is required to enter in the country, had been cancelled, despite it had initially been granted to her in June.
They stated that she was “not eligible for an ETA” because of her conviction. “It hadn’t occurred to me that the verdict would have consequences of this kind”, Räsänen told the Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat.
She was invited to speak at a conference on freedom of expression and religion at the Northern Ireland Assembly, and at another event in Belfast organised by a Christian organisation.
Long process
Following two victories in which she was unanimously acquitted by both the Helsinki District Court and the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court has now convicted her of inciting hatred and “insulting” LGBT people.
It has done so on the basis of Chapter 11 of the Finnish Penal Code, which deals with “ethnic agitation” and condemns the defamation or insulting of vulnerable groups.
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Published in: Evangelical Focus – europe
– Päivi Räsänen brings her conviction to the European Court of Human Rights
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