Finnish MP Convicted for Quoting the Bible Appeals to European Court

Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish member of parliament and former interior minister, filed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights this week after being convicted in March for expressing Christian beliefs about marriage and sexual ethics in a 2004 church booklet.

Two lower courts unanimously acquitted her in 2022 and 2023. But the state prosecutor appealed to Finland’s Supreme Court, which convicted her in a narrow 3-2 decision on March 26, 2026. The court also convicted Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and the Luther Foundation Finland for publishing the booklet. All three face thousands of Euros in fines, and the court ordered statements from the booklet be removed from public access and destroyed.

The legal battle began in 2021 when Räsänen was charged under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled “war crimes and crimes against humanity” for agitation against a minority group. The prosecution targeted her 2019 tweet quoting a Bible verse, a 2004 church booklet on Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality, and participation in a live radio debate. The Supreme Court upheld her acquittal for the tweet but convicted her on the booklet charge. The radio show acquittal stands because it was never appealed.

Here’s what makes this conviction legally alarming: the Supreme Court applied a law introduced years after the booklet was published. This retrospective application of legislation raises serious questions about rule of law and legal certainty. Even more troubling, the court acknowledged that the booklet contained no “incitement to violence or comparable threat-like fomenting of hatred.” Yet it still convicted her.

Räsänen is a medical doctor and grandmother of 12 who has endured prosecution for nearly seven years. She testified before the U.S. Congress in February on threats to free speech in Europe. Now she faces another consequence: in July, her Electronic Travel Authorization for the United Kingdom was canceled despite being approved in June. Bishop Pohjola was also denied UK clearance. Authorities offered no detailed explanation beyond stating she was “not eligible for an ETA.”

The travel ban prevented Räsänen from attending a religious freedom conference in Belfast in August, where she was invited to deliver the keynote speech on the importance of free speech. She called the denial “shocking and deeply ironic” given she was invited to discuss fundamental freedoms but is prevented from doing so due to her conviction for expressing protected speech.

Lorcán Price, a barrister at ADF International representing Räsänen, said her criminal conviction for peacefully expressing Christian beliefs and the subsequent travel restrictions point to a European crisis of censorship related to religious expression.

Scripture speaks directly to moments like this. Acts 5:29 says, “We must obey God rather than human beings.” Matthew 5:10-12 promises, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Räsänen quoted the Bible in a church booklet published over two decades ago. She was convicted under a statute titled “crimes against humanity.” The court admits she incited no violence. Yet her conviction stands, she’s been fined, and she’s now banned from traveling to countries that once championed religious freedom.

This is what persecution looks like in the modern West. Not lions in arenas, but fines, convictions, and travel bans for quoting Scripture. Europe is criminalizing Christian belief. Pray for Räsänen’s appeal. Support organizations like ADF International defending religious freedom. And recognize the pattern: if it’s happening in Finland, it can happen anywhere.

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