The US Government has thrown its support behind Finland's former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, who stands accused of inciting hatred against minorities in a landmark trial before the Supreme Court with Europe-wide implications.
"They [the Trump administration] have been in contact", Päivi Räsänen exclusively told GB News.
Previously, the US state department voiced concern over the sitting MP's legal case, which centres around a tweet posted in 2019 questioning the Finnish Lutheran Church's support for LGBT pride parades.
In an interview with the People's Channel, Mrs Räsänen said she had simply posted an image of a Bible verse, asking the Church how its support fit with the scripture.
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Mrs Räsänen stands accused of inciting hatred against minorities in a landmark trial
|GB NEWS / PA
For this, one of Finland's top politicians with a decades-long career, found herself interrogated for hours at the police station, where she was made to read the Bible and give officers her interpretation of its contents.
"The prosecutor claimed that my interpretation of the Bible is wrong!" Likening her trial to a punishment of heresy, she recalled: "I was sitting in a police station. I had the Bible on the table and the police was asking what I meant by the words sin and shame."
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Despite two acquittals in the lower courts, the prosecution has sought to secure a conviction in the highest court in the land.
"At the least, it is ideologically motivated, then also politically," she reasoned.
Marco Rubio is supporting the Finnish politician
|REUTERS
"The prosecutors who have been in court accusing me of hate speech have very publicly expressed before this case their views."
"Finnish society is divided. We have forces, for example, LGBT advocates that are very strongly demanding limitations to freedom of speech and for Christians.
"I think they have influence on the prosecution."
Asked whether the Finnish media has led a backlash in a similar vein to which has been seen in Britain, the politician retorted: "I have been very worried about the situation in Britain. These silent prayers and police knocking on doors for social media updates. They are shocking."
Despite widespread global support from figures like Jordan Peterson and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Räsänen says the Finnish media has not rushed to her defence: "The main newspaper in Finland has taken a stand against me and my freedoms."
Though confident she will emerge victorious once the verdict of her third and final trial comes in, she fears the possibility of a conviction is too high, saying: "It would start a new period of Christian persecution in Europe".
The trial was held on 30 October, with the verdict expected in spring.
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