The U.K. government has barred Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen from entering the country due to Finland’s Supreme Court convicting her of hate speech, Christian Daily International reported. See related stories here and here.
Räsänen, who is appealing the Supreme Court’s hate speech conviction to the European Court of Human Rights, told Christian Daily International that she applied for an Electronic Travel Authorization from U.K. authorities because she planned future travels to the country.
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“The application process asked me to disclose any criminal convictions within the past 12 months,” Räsänen said. “At first, I received a positive answer on June 17, but on June 30 I received a shocking message from GOV.UK that authorities canceled my application: ‘The information you provided in your ETA application suggests that you are not eligible for an ETA and it has been cancelled.’”
The Northern Ireland Assembly had invited Räsänen to speak at an Aug. 17 event titled “Faith, Freedom and the Future.” Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots extended the invitation. Räsänen said she had already booked and paid for her flights, and organizers had prearranged the meeting at the parliament. During the same trip, the Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention had scheduled her as a speaker.
“The canceled ETA already impacts me in other ways,” Räsänen said. “Last week, returning from a conference in California, I scrapped plans to transit through Heathrow, choosing instead to fly via Dallas in order to avoid any problems passing through the U.K.”
Background on case
The Supreme Court of Finland convicted Räsänen on March 26 by a narrow 3–2 majority decision over statements expressing biblical views on marriage and sexuality in a 2004 booklet titled, “Male and female He created them.” The court fined the politician 1,800 euros, equivalent to 20 days’ wages, and ordered her to cover her own legal costs. Her appeal follows the Supreme Court ruling that overturned two previous lower court acquittals.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Eyte and originally published by Christian Daily International.
