The free speech case against Finnish Parliament member Dr. Päivi Räsänen has been reopened once again. Räsänen, a medical doctor and a professing Christian, has already been cleared of hate speech charges twice, but now Helsinki’s public prosecutor has appealed to the Finland’s Supreme Court.

Räsänen was first charged with “ethnic agitation” in 2019 after she questioned the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s support of the Helsinki LGBT Pride Parade on Twitter (now X). 

Her tweet also included a photo of Romans 1:24–27; the link to a 2018 radio interview in which she discussed what Jesus Christ would think about homosexuality; and a 2004 pamphlet she wrote titled, “Male and Female He Created Them—Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Concept of Humanity,” explaining that God designed marriage for one man and one woman. The case also involved Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who helped publish the pamphlet. 

Both were cleared of all charges in unanimous acquittals twice, in 2022 and 2023. Now the case against Räsänen and Pohjola will be reopened in the Supreme Court. 

“This decision totally surprised me,” Räsänen said in a statement once the news broke. “I have, however, a peaceful mind and I am ready to continue to defend free speech and freedom of religion before the Supreme Court, and if need be, also before the European Court of Human Rights.”

Räsänen also noted that a possible third acquittal by the Supreme Court could potentially pave the way for more religious freedom in Finland. “It would also more strongly secure the Christian’s freedom to speak about the Bible’s teachings,” she wrote. 

Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty