The Helsinki District Court has set the date for the hearing in the censorship case of Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen.

In April, the Finnish Prosecutor General brought three criminal charges against her. The former Minister of the Interior now faces two years imprisonment or a fine. The medical doctor is accused of having engaged in “hate speech” for publicly repeating biblical teaching on human sexuality and marriage in a 2004 pamphlet, for comments made on a 2019 radio show and a 2019 tweet directed at her church leadership.  She has said attending gay pride parades is a “sin”.

“I await the court proceedings with a calm mind, confident that Finland will respect the freedom of expression and religion enshrined in fundamental rights and international conventions. I will not back down from my conviction based on the Bible and I am ready to defend freedom of expression and religion in all necessary courts. I cannot accept that voicing religious beliefs could mean imprisonment. I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech,” said Päivi Räsänen.