Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen to appeal hate speech conviction at European Court of Human Rights

Finnish Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen will challenge her hate speech conviction at the European Court of Human Rights, she announced in a statement on Thursday.

In March, Finland’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that found Räsänen guilty of incitement against a minority group over a 2004 pamphlet titled Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Concept of Humanity. She was fined 20 day-fines, totalling €1,800 based on her income.

Räsänen argued in her statement that peaceful expression of conviction should not be criminalised, emphasising that while her views may be opposed or criticised, labelling opinions as crimes “seriously restricts freedom of speech.”

The case centres on writings in which Räsänen, a long-serving MP and former interior minister, expressed her religious opposition to same-sex relationships. The Supreme Court’s decision followed a prolonged legal process examining whether her statements constituted unlawful hate speech under Finnish law.