Päivi Räsänen's lawyer critical of second hate speech trial after Finnish parliamentarian acquitted

Ahead of the second trial for Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen – over her public, faith-based views on marriage – her lawyer criticized the country's judicial process in which a person can essentially be tried twice for the same alleged crime. 

"In the Finnish system and other legal systems as well, the criminal system works similar to civil court where the losing side essentially can appeal and keep on doing so until they run out of appeal," Räsänen's chief legal counsel, Paul Coleman, said this week on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. 

"We often say with these sorts of cases that the process becomes the punishment ultimately," he said. “Because you're dragged to court for years and you're interrogated by the police, and you're having to undergo all of this."

The second trial, in the Helsinki Court of Appeals, was held Thursday and Friday, with a verdict expected in the next four to six weeks.

In February 2022, the Helsinki District Court’s unanimously dismissed the hate speech charges over Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola's Christian beliefs about marriage. 

"So we had this trial in February of 2021," Coleman also said. "And now here we are in August 2023 still going and essentially it's going to be a complete retrial."

If the state loses a second time, it has the right to appeal further up the legal chain, according to the website europeanconservative.com.

Räsänen is a former Finnish Interior minister who was investigated in 2019, then charged in 2021 with three criminal charges – sharing her faith-based views on marriage and sexuality on social media, a 2019 radio debate and a 2004 pamphlet. 

"In 2019 the Finnish Lutheran Church became an official sponsor of the Helsinki Pride Parade," Coleman explained. "Päivi is a member of that church. Her husband is the minister in the church, and she felt like she wanted to say something or do something. She went up there, found the picture of Bible verses, put it on Twitter and essentially asked the leader for her church, how their actions aligned with the clear teaching of Scripture regarding marriage and human sexuality."

While under investigation, the police found the pamphlet she wrote for her church on the biblical view of marriage and human sexuality and a radio debate she had about the topic and added two more charges.

Räsänen's case is supported by Alliance Defending Freedom International, which argued that finding Räsänen guilty of hate speech would damage free speech in Finland.

"Many countries in Europe and elsewhere have similarly worded protection for freedom of speech," Coleman said. "It's because courts in the U.S. have consistently upheld freedom of expression over a number of decades, whereas courts in other jurisdictions have essentially gutted those free to breach protection of any real value."

The original charges fell under a part of Finnish law that criminalizes "war crimes and crimes against humanity" with each having the potential to result in a prison sentence of up to two years.

The trial, which attracted international attention, was held in two parts. The District Court in March 2022 found her and Pohjola not guilty of all charges and ordered the prosecution to pay their legal costs.