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Two prominent Christians prosecuted for quoting the Bible will be defending themselves to Finland’s Supreme Court after an appeal Friday from a Helsinki prosecutor.
“This court case is historic for freedom of expression and religion,” said Finnish Member of Parliament Paivi Rasanen, one of the two Christians prosecuted for publicly speaking what the Bible teaches about sex. “For the first time in a criminal case, the court has weighed in on whether teachings linked to the Bible can be brought forth and publicly agreed with.”
The case could reach the European Court of Human Rights, where its outcome would affect the world. This appears to be the first post-Soviet case in Europe of a government prosecuting Christians for their beliefs, legal analysts have told The Federalist.
Rasanen was hauled into court nearly five years ago, in 2019, for tweeting a picture of a Bible verse during a homosexual parade endorsed by Finland’s state church. When the government investigated Rasanen for her tweet, state prosecutors uncovered a booklet Rasanen, a medical doctor, had written explaining Christian views of sex. The booklet was published as part of a theological teaching series by Juhana Pohjola, a pastor who is now the bishop of a non-government-sponsored Lutheran church body in Finland.
So state prosecutors charged Pohjola with violating “hate speech” laws for publishing the booklet, and Rasanen with “hate speech” for writing it. Rasanen faces two additional
