Päivi Räsänen has said she will be appealing her case at the European Court of Human Rights.
Räsänen, a Finnish politician, was recently found guilty by the Finnish Supreme Court of insulting the LGBT community via a decades old pamphlet on sexual ethics.
Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola was also convicted of “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group”.
Their conviction followed two previous acquittals in lower courts. The Supreme Court found them guilty after the state appealed.
On her decision to take the case to Europe, Räsänen said, “The failure of the Finnish Supreme Court to uphold freedom of speech has set a dangerous precedent in my country and across Europe.
"I feel it is my duty to appeal this decision, to reinstate respect for the basic human right that all are free to peacefully express their views in the public square.”
The Supreme Court was by no means unanimous in its ruling, and decided 3 to 2 against Räsänen. The court ruled that all copies of the offending booklet be destroyed and fined Räsänen, Bishop Pohjola, and the Luther Foundation Finland to the tune of thousands of euros.
Räsänen added, “I know I am not alone in facing unjust persecution under ‘hate speech’ laws that make sharing Christian beliefs a criminal offense.
"I make my appeal in the hope that the European Court of Human Rights will recognise that peacefully expressing one’s beliefs is never a crime, and ensure that this basic freedom is protected for all.”
A member of Räsänen’s legal team, Lorcán Price of ADF international described the Finnish ruling as “retroactive censorship” and a “chilling” development”.
Price said, “The ‘hate speech’ laws used to convict Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola clearly contradict international human rights law regarding freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
"If such laws can be interpreted so broadly as to include a decades-old church booklet, how can anyone in Finland be certain that anything they have said, or will say, will not be prosecuted?
"It is imperative that the European Court of Human Rights clarify and protect these fundamental freedoms definitively.”
