Some six weeks after banning her from British soil, the U.K. government has granted embattled Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen a travel visa.
Räsänen — a devout Christian whose legal woes began with a 2019 tweet stating her biblical beliefs on sexuality — got the news about 45 minutes before she was scheduled to speak at a religious freedom conference in Northern Ireland.
RELATED: Check out more stories on Päivi Räsänen.
Instead of speaking in person, Räsänen addressed the “Faith in the Public Square” conference at Stormont, Northern Ireland’s Assembly building, on Aug. 21 by video from Finland.
The next day she announced on X that she had received her U.K. visa: “Grateful to U.K. authorities and God that the visa finally arrived. Of course too late for this week’s conference. But now I’m free to travel if the UK area wants to hear about freedom of speech and religion.”
Long legal battle
Räsänen’s long legal battle over her religious freedom and free speech has spanned seven years; the most recent judgment against her came in March after Finland’s Supreme Court arrived at a split decision, unanimously clearing her of the conviction for that 2019 tweet but upholding, 3–2, her hate speech conviction for co-writing a 2004 church pamphlet that explained the Bible’s teaching on sexuality and marriage. Her co-author, Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, was also found guilty and was barred from traveling to the U.K.
Meanwhile, her attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom International are challenging the Finnish high court’s March decision against her before the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jerry Pierce and originally published by Decision Magazine. With additional reporting by Managing Editor Lee Weeks. It is used here with permission.
Share with others: