Criminal Conviction for Preaching Overturned by Swedish High CourtNov 29, 2005 On November 29, 2005, Sweden's Supreme Court acquitted Pastor Ake Green of all charges in a unanimous 5-0 decision, preserving the fundamental freedom of religious expression as mandated by international agreements. In 2003, Pastor Ake Green was sentenced to one month in prison for a sermon he preached to his congregation against homosexual conduct based on his interpretation of the Bible. The sermon was later printed in a local newspaper, and Green was prosecuted for offending Sweden’s homosexual community. On October 31, 2005, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a brief before the Supreme Court of Sweden calling for the Court to affirm the Court of Appeals' February 2005 decision to reverse the conviction of a pastor prosecuted for the message he preached from the pulpit.
"To muzzle a preacher and mute a religious message simply because the expression is offensive to one, some, or many is a fundamental mistake concerning a fundamental right," stated Jared N. Leland, Spokesman and Legal Counsel for The Becket Fund. "The issue before the Court was neither homosexuality nor society's perception of homosexual conduct," Leland said. "The issue was religious liberty, and today's decision by the Court preserves this fundamental freedom."
The Becket Fund -- an international, interfaith, public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions -- filed its brief to educate the Court about Sweden’s obligation to respect religious exercise, religious expression, and equal protection of the laws, rights that are secured by Articles 18, 19, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Sweden is a signatory.
As a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, The Becket Fund files legal briefs worldwide in order to assure proper enforcement of the fundamental human right to religious freedom, as protected by the ICCPR and other international instruments.
Article 18 provides, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” As The Becket Fund’s brief notes, “Article 18 provides that it is not the role of a government composed of men to declare what is orthodoxy by punishing those who publicly teach one religious view of what is right, even if that view may offend others.”
Article 19 states, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds....” And Article 26 prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion “or other opinion.”
“Should this Court uphold Pastor Green’s conviction—which was based solely upon the expression of his religious beliefs in a sermon preached to his congregation—Sweden will be in violation of all three of these bedrock principles of international human rights law,” the brief declared.
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