Public broadcaster in Finland shares short documentary on Räsänen case

The Christian Democratic MP Räsänen recently wrote a Christmas message to her followers that included a link of the documentary. The 12-minute video ran as part of YLE’s “Friday Documentaries” and includes audio recordings from the trials. The documentary is in Finnish with English subtitles.

According to previous CNE reporting, the prosecution of Räsänen goes back to 2019. Räsänen posted a tweet that criticised the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s sponsorship in the nation’s Pride Week event. She challenged the Church’s position by asking a question: “How can the Church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with elevating sin and shame as reasons for pride?” Räsänen also included a photo of the Biblical passage, Romans 1:24-27 in her post.

Attorney General, Raija Toiviainen and the state prosecution team have seen the tweet as an insult toward “homosexuals as a group” and believe that Räsänen views them as “inferior” compared to others. Räsänen said in her message that they have filed three criminal charges against her for hate speech.

Freedom of speech

The documentary opens with Räsänen’s journey to the courtroom. She answers questions from journalists who ask about the case and freedom of speech. “This is my task, my calling, to defend freedom of speech and religion,” she says in the documentary.

The film also shows several courtroom sketches from the cases that are backed up with audio recordings from Räsänen and the prosecution. Viewers get a glimpse of the prosecution’s penetrating questions to Räsänen which include: Why do you interpret the Bible literally in regard to homosexuality? and “Have you understood that the public at large understands as defamatory as your statement that homosexuality is a disorder?”

In response to the second question, Räsänen responds that she has not expressed any of these opinions. In the same trial, Räsänen says that “I feel that these charges have distorted my words.”

“These “Bible trials” mark the first case the court has to take a stand on whether it is legal or not to cite the Bible and to agree with it. I am prepared to defend free speech and freedom of religion at all necessary levels of the law, even before the European Court of Human Rights,” she said in the message to her followers.

Long documentary

A longer documentary entitled Free Speech Crime is set to be released in Autumn 2023. Director, Matti Reinikka, from Agendadoc has chronicled the prosecution and the two court trials that have already taken place. Over 100 hours of the case has been captured, and at least 90 percent of the film is finished. However, the crew is waiting on the Court of Appeals trial which is set to take place next year in August.

Räsänen was initially acquitted from all charges, but the prosecution has appealed the decision. The case is still ongoing.