A Washington Post editorial on Friday sharply criticised Finland's highest court convicting MP Päivi Räsänen (CD) of incitement against a minority group.

"Finland is often ranked as the happiest country on Earth, but that’s only if you like cold winters and harsh limitations on freedom of expression," the editorial began.

The roughly four year long legal battle through various courts came to a conclusion on Thursday, when the supreme court upheld a lower court's decision to sentence the lawmaker to 20 day-fines — or around 1,800 euros based on her income.

The case concerned a booklet that Räsänen published in 2004, (roughly translated) "Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Understanding of Humanity".

The supreme court found Räsänen guilty of incitement for having republished the booklet on her Facebook page in late 2019.

However, the Post's critical opinion piece did not address the legal reasoning behind the court's decision.

The editorial did not mention that the ruling was based on the finding that making medical claims in a religious context was not a protected form of religious freedom.

The Court noted that Räsänen's booklet described homosexuality as "a disorder of psychosexual development" and a "sexual abnormality". Apart from her political career, Räsänen is also a trained physician.

The case has attracted international attention, including among fundamentalist groups in the United States. Last month, Räsänen testified before a US congressional hearing at the invitation of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.

Medical claims

The US newspaper suggested that a statement the court deemed to be incorrect had led to its decision:

"She is a conservative Christian. Räsänen believes homosexuality is sinful. In the 2004 pamphlet, she called it a developmental disorder. The Finnish supreme court ruled that this is a crime. Because her statement was judged incorrect, she was found guilty of 'making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group'," the editorial read.

However, the Supreme Court made a clear distinction between religious points of view and erroneous medical claims.

The chair of the Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN), Eero Hyvönen, told Yle on Friday that Finland continues to offer freedom of speech rights.

The JSN is the Finnish media sector's self-regulatory body.

According to Hyvönen, general criticism or opinions considered offensive are acceptable forms of free speech, but offensive speech that specifically targets or discriminates against a particular group of people is not protected speech.

In its decision, the high court said that the booklet's offending passages did not concern religion or beliefs. Instead, they were opinions based on the author's social and medical views.

After Thursday's ruling was announced, Räsänen said she was considering filing an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.

The US Embassy in Finland has also criticised the high court's decision. In a post on social media site X, it called the ruling "troubling".

Edited at 17:04 on 28 March 2026 to note that Päivi Räsänen is a trained physician.