Finnish Parliament member Päivi Räsänen is facing a second trial over her Christian beliefs on marriage and sexuality, her lawyers say.

Last year a three-judge panel of the Helsinki District Court acquitted Räsänen of hate speech charges. Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland was also acquitted of hate speech charges.

Both faced charges stemming from their 2004 pamphlet, Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Concept of Humanity.

Räsänen, the former leader of Finland's Christian Democratic Party, faced further criminal charges for a 2019 tweet criticizing Finnish Lutheran Church leaders for supporting LGBT pride month, The Christian Post reports.

The judges ruled that "it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts."

"By continuing its campaign to censor peaceful beliefs, the prosecution is setting a dangerous precedent of intolerance against free speech," Räsänen said in a statement.

Lawyers say Räsänen still has to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

ADF International Executive Director Paul Coleman called the ordeal a "new low" for European free speech.

"When a longstanding and respected Finnish parliamentarian is put on trial twice for sharing her deeply held beliefs in a tweet four years ago, you know regard for free speech in Europe has hit a new low," Coleman said.

Authorities first began investigating Räsänen in June 2019. Throughout the investigation, she underwent 13 hours of police interrogations. In April 2021, the Finnish prosecutor general brought Räsänen up on three criminal charges.

"We all are sinners, and we need Jesus. But now, I think there is a heavy hatred against Christian values in our society," Räsänen earlier told The Christian Post. "If you speak about gender issues — that there are two genders or that marriage belongs to one woman and one man — it arouses hatred against you in our society."

Räsänen began serving in the Finnish Parliament in 1995. She was chairwoman of the Christian Democrats and interior minister from 2011-2015.

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