Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen Barred from UK Transit Over Hate‑Speech Conviction

The United Kingdom refused a visa and blocked transit for Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen after she was convicted of hate speech in Finland for quoting the Bible in a pamphlet. The UK Home Office cited rules that require entry refusal for individuals who have committed offences causing serious harm. Räsänen, a member of Finland’s Parliament and a Lutheran lawmaker, had booked a flight from the United States to Helsinki with a layover at Heathrow and planned to speak at a freedom‑of‑speech conference in Northern Ireland. She had previously been acquitted of the charge by Finnish courts, but a higher court upheld a conviction in a 3‑2 split decision, which she is now appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. The ban sparked criticism from international religious‑freedom groups, who described the decision as a “gross miscarriage of justice.”