For the third time, government prosecutors will haul Päivi Räsänen back to court, this time the Finnish Supreme Court. The Finnish parliamentarian faces charges of hate speech for challenging her church’s sponsorship of an LGBTQ event in a 2019 tweet and for describing the biblical view of male and female in a 2004 pamphlet.  

The importance of this trial is immense. As Räsänen said in a statement with ADF International, “This was not just about my opinions, but about everyone’s freedom of expression. I hope that with the ruling of the Supreme Court, others would not have to undergo the same ordeal.”  

The fundamental freedoms of speech and religion face unprecedented threats across Europe. Recently in Scotland, a new hate crime law threatened anyone who refused to use someone’s “preferred pronouns.” It was challenged by the courage of another woman, J.K. Rowling.  

Räsänen’s been acquitted twice but, as ADF international director Paul Coleman observed, her opponents are punishing her with the process. Let’s pray for her faith and her courage to endure.