Students shot during protest in Nigeria

TWO students from Plateau State University, Bokkos, in Nigeria, were reportedly shot by security forces last week during a rally protesting against a lack of military protection for Christian villages against attacks by Fulani militias. Release International, calling for an inquiry, reports that the Nigerian authorities claim that the students were hit by stray bullets. More than 40 farmers from Christian-majority villages have been killed by Fulani militants over seven days, and that protesters were fired on by the army.

Finnish MP to stand trial again over marriage remarks

A FORMER government minister in Finland, Päivi Räsänen, will stand trial for a third time charged with “hate speech”. The case concerns a social-media post in which, in 2019, she described her views on marriage, and a 2004 church pamphlet that referred to the biblical text “male and female he created them.” On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Finland agreed to an appeal by the state prosecutor after Ms Räsänen was unanimously acquitted of the charges before both the Helsinki District Court and the Court of Appeal. A date for the appeal has yet to be set. Ms Räsänen said that she was “ready to continue to defend free speech and freedom of religion before the Supreme Court, and, if need be, also before the European Court of Human Rights”.