A Christian who is a member of parliament in Finland, acquitted earlier after being accused of “hate” for sharing her faith, now is facing another assault by her nation’s legal system.
It’s not a surprise, since WND reported at her acquittal, prosecutors continued to demand that she be punished.
The case involves Paivi Rasanen, of Finland, who last year was acquitted of charges that her faith-based statements created “ethnic agitation.”
She was named in three counts of that offense, but a court then dismissed those claims.
That court also ordered prosecutors to pay more than 60,000 euros of her legal costs.
But prosecutors then said her case was not over.
A report in Decision magazine at the time confirmed the Helsinki Court of Appeals reopened the prosecution.
A report from Premier Christian News now explains she’s been given a new court summons.
The former interior minister now must attend the Court of Appeal on Aug. 22, with Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who is being prosecuted for publishing her comments, appearing two days later.
“I have been subjected to a legal process that has already lasted for more than four years for the alleged ‘crime’ of sharing my Christian beliefs in public,” she explained.
“This is a modern-day inquisition and a theological examination of my beliefs, which does not belong in a courtroom. The prosecutors’ 26-pages long appeal openly attacks the core doctrines of Christianity, regarding them as ‘defamatory.’”
It started in 2019 when she went on social media to express concern that her church was holding a “Pride” event.
There, she posted a photo of a Bible verse in Finnish.
And prosecutors charged her with “hate speech.”
The report explained, “This case has been named ‘the Bible trial’ as the prosecutor focused on evaluating the acceptability of the Bible’s teachings in modern Finland,” the report said.
The acquittal in Helsinki District Court didn’t convince prosecutors, who responded by continuing their persecution of her.
“The contents of my writings and speeches represent the classical Christian conception of marriage and sexuality, which is the same that Christian churches have taught for two thousand years,” she said. “I entirely reject the allegation that I have defamed, threatened, or insulted anyone, and language of that sort has not been included in my statements.”
WND reported earlier she also gave a radio interview where she discussed what the Bible says about homosexuality, and she published a pamphlet pointing out that homosexuality doesn’t comply with the Christian concept of humanity.
Prosecutors demand punishment for Christian acquitted of charges!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
This post originally appeared on WND News Center.