Räsänen’s lawyer “quite certain” top Court will take the appeal case
Lawyer Matti Sankamo (right) together with Räsänen (left) at the court. Photo CNE, Danielle Miettinen
Northern Europe
Matti Sankamo, the lawyer of the Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen, is “quite certain” that the Supreme Court will accept the application for an appeal against Mrs Räsänen.
The lawyer said this to CNE.news in response to the news that the prosecutor has appealed against the acquittal of Räsänen.
Usually, the Supreme Court only accepts 6 per cent of the applications. According to Mr Sankamo, Räsänen’s case is “interesting enough” to be tried, he said. “The legal questions in this case are new and important. I am quite certain that the Court is interested in them.” The Supreme Court has ruled on religious speech earlier, Sankamo says. “But in this case, religious speech is brought in connection with discrimination of specific groups. That is new.”
Sankamo expects the Court to decide whether or not to take the case before half-May. After that, the case itself will start. “We would be lucky to have the final verdict this year. But spring 2025 will be more likely.” In terms of procedure, the Court is free how to deal with the trial. “They might decide to have a public hearing, as we have seen before twice. But the Court can also decide not to have this public session.”
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