AP

Imprisonment for posting a Bible tweet is now a very real possibility in Finland. The Finnish Prosecutor General has brought three criminal charges against Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen.

According to ADF International, the former Minister of the Interior  and member of the Finnish Lutheran Church now faces two years of imprisonment for each alleged crime. The medical doctor, mother of five, and grandmother of six is ​​accused of having engaged in “hate speech” for publicly voicing her opinion on marriage and human sexuality on a 2018 TV show and, most recently, a tweet directed at her church leadership.

“I cannot accept that voicing my religious beliefs could mean imprisonment. I do not consider myself guilty of threatening, slandering or insulting anyone. My statements were all based on the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexuality,” said Ms Räsänen. “I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech. I hold on to the view that my expressions are legal and they should not be censored. I will not back down from my views. I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith. The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets.”

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