FINLAND'S ACTING PARLIAMENTARIAN AND FORMER MINISTER OF INTERIOR CONTINUES TO WIN COURT CASES ACCUSING HER OF 'HATE SPEECH' AGAINST REPRESENTATIVES OF ANTI-CHRISTIAN IDEOLOGY

Metropolitan Theodosius (Snigirev) of Cherkasy and Kanev UOC comments:

As a member of the alliance "Church against Xenophobia and Discrimination" I want to support the position of the member of the Finnish Parliament Päivi Räsänen in the case on the accusation of her so-called "hate speech" based on her religious beliefs.

She, the former Finnish Minister of the Interior was charged with three criminal offences for quoting the Bible and expressing her beliefs in connection with the LGBT march PRIDE2019 " How does the doctrine of the church, #raamattu agree with the fact that shame and sin are raised as a matter of pride?".

A four-year trial resulted in her full acquittal, which was undoubtedly a victory for free speech over the various restrictions on expression by the vague and controversial concepts of "hurting feelings" or "hate speech". However, she had to face detailed questioning, including about whether she would have recanted her beliefs had she known the consequences.

There is no doubt that trials in Ukraine against metropolitans and believers of the UOC follow a similar scenario, when they are tried for freedom of speech and expression of religious beliefs, using far-fetched and non-legal legal constructions, often unreasonably expanding the content of criminal law norms.

However, European practice has rejected attempts to try for religious beliefs, recognising the expression of religious views and criticism of sin and vice as legitimate.