A Finnish Christian lawmaker says British authorities revoked her permission to travel to the United Kingdom following her recent "hate speech" conviction over statements expressing biblical views on marriage and sexuality, raising fresh concerns among religious freedom advocates about the consequences of the ruling.Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland's Parliament and the country's former interior minister, said her previously approved U.K.Electronic Travel Authorization was canceled without explanation, jeopardizing plans to speak at events in Northern Ireland next month.
Räsänen is appealing her conviction to the European Court of Human Rights.A screenshot of the cancellation message shared with Fox News Digital read, "Dear ETA Customer, The information you provided in your ETA application suggests that you are not eligible for an ETA and it has been cancelled.If you still want to travel to the UK, you will need to apply or reapply for one of the following: Electronic Travel Authorisation Standard visitor visa Transit visa Temporary work – creative worker visa."HASAN PIKER SAYS UK HAS BARRED HIM, TRASHES 'UNBELIEVABLE...POWER' OF PRO-ISRAEL GROUPSFinnish Christian lawmaker Päivi-Räsänen.
(Alliance Defending Freedom)"I tried to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) from the United Kingdom authorities because of my future travels to UK," Räsänen told Fox News Digital in a statement."As part of the application process, I was asked to disclose any criminal convictions within the past 12 months.At first, I got a positive answer on 17th June, but on 3rd July I got a shocking message from GOV.UK that my application was cancelled, ‘The information you provided in your ETA application suggests that you are not eligible for an ETA and it has been cancelled.’"According to Alliance Defending Freedom, who has been representing Räsänen in litigation, in 2019 she criticized her church's sponsorship of an LGBT event in a post on X that included...