In the final stage, prosecutor in Räsänen case focuses on a 21-year-old pamphlet

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That brochure (or ‘pamphlet’, as the prosecutor and other participants in the court called it) is entitled Male and Female He Created Them. Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola asked Räsänen to write the booklet in 2004. The Member of Parliament did so in her spare time, in two evenings, she said on Thursday in the High Court in Helsinki. Once she had finished it, she didn’t really think about it anymore.

Pohjola was the director of the Luther Foundation Finland and was involved in educating the younger generation. The Bible and the Lutheran confession of faith form the basis of this foundation, the bishop emphasised on Thursday. The intention was not to publish controversial views, let alone insults, but “beliefs that all Christians have traditionally shared”, according to the bishop. Räsänen’s brochure appeared as number 27 in a series of 33.

The prosecutor, Mikko Männikkö, addressed the target audience of this brochure. Was it a small group of young people from conservative Lutheran parents, or was it the whole world? After all, that makes a difference to the impact of offensive language.

In 2007, the bishop decided to post a PDF version of these booklets on the internet, allowing the entire world to access them. When controversy arose in 2019, Räsänen also uploaded the brochure herself. In doing so, the Member of Parliament turned the text into a political statement, the prosecutor said. To this day, an English version can be accessed via the internet.

According to the prosecutor, this brochure was harmful to homosexuals. Their way of life was associated with “shame, sin and brokenness,” which is humiliating, according to the prosecutor. Homosexuality is an identity, he said, that cannot be changed. These arguments were also submitted literally in 2022 and 2023 by prosecutors in the lower courts.

Children

Once again, considerable attention was paid to the comments made in 2004 regarding children. Räsänen said in her booklet that free sexual morality has risks because it encourages experimental behaviour at a young age. This can lead to the abuse of children by adults, she argued. In all the hearings, the prosecutors accused Räsänen of comparing homosexuals to paedophiles, an accusation she has consistently denied.

Bishop Pohjola’s solicitor, Jyrke Anttinen, reminded the prosecutor that sacred texts, such as the Bible, enjoy a high level of legal protection and cannot simply be tested against the anti-discrimination principle in Finnish law.

Räsänen’s lawyer also had a criticism for the prosecutor. According to Sankamo, as a representative of the state, the public prosecutor has a duty to refrain from interpreting the Bible. By stating that Räsänen’s interpretation is incorrect, the prosecutor is abandoning that neutrality.

Press conference

In a press conference for international media after the hearing, lawyer Matti Sankamo addressed the question of why the prosecutor is focusing on that 21-year-old brochure and not on the offence with which it all started, namely the 2019 tweet. Sankamo: “It is much easier for the prosecutor to talk about that brochure. Half of that tweet consists of a Bible text, which is difficult to ban. That pamphlet contains much more text that you can take issue with. But for the media, the tweet is more interesting. After all, it is rare to be convicted for a tweet.”

At the same press conference, Räsänen looked back on the 6.5 years of criminal prosecution. It was tough, she said. “But because of this, people have heard about God. Some people have approached me and said that they have started praying and reading the Bible again. Even people from the LGBT community. So it has not been in vain.”

The hearing at the Supreme Court marks the beginning of the conclusion of the legal proceedings. If the judges rule in favour of the MP, the case will be closed in her favour. If Räsänen loses, she may appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The ruling is expected to be announced early next year.