In November last year, Leore Klõšeiko, taking part in the protest, was fined €120 after holding up a placard bearing the words "From the River to the Sea," a common slogan which has appeared in similar demonstrations in various countries.

The first-tier Harju County Court ruled the placard supported genocide.

The Estonian Human Rights Center considers that line to be excessively restrictive in respect of freedom of speech.

Merike Nyman-Metcalf, chair of the human rights center, told "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK): "It is incomprehensible to us how such an important fundamental right can be so easily restricted without due consideration given to proportionality, societal debate, plus the many studies and decisions made regarding this phrase elsewhere in the world."

"This was a demonstration in which people were not even aware that this slogan should not be expressed, while there was nothing in this context to suggest support for Hamas, or any other terrorism [group]. This is indeed a curb on freedom of speech, which should only be carried out when absolutely necessary, and within very strict limits," Nyman-Metcalf went on.

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), who issued the fine to Klõšeiko, says its actions were correct.

PPA Police Captain Inna Toater told AK: "Our stance is that we support protests, and public discussions where people are permitted to express a range of opinions on domestic or foreign political issues from different countries. However, we do not permit calls for the violent termination of Israel, or of any other recognized state."

Lawyer Ronald Riistan, representing Klõšeiko, said the PPA has severely restricted his client's freedom of expression and had acted arbitrarily at short notice, in respect of the "From the river to the sea" slogan.

Riistan said: "Freedom of expression is a fundamental principle of a democratic state, and it is not consistent with the Constitution to penalize a person for accidentally or negligently using a symbol if they were unaware, and could not have known, that that symbol was prohibited, just because the PPA decided on its prohibition on the morning of the demonstration, without informing the public."

"It is not consistent with democracy for the PPA to rule in the morning that a certain expression is prohibited and then, by the afternoon of that same day, start issuing fines for using that symbol without prior informing of the public," Riistan told AK.

Legal scholar: Fine may be overturned

University of Tartu legal scholar Jaan Ginter's opinion was that while the slogan should not be used, the PPA fine could still be overturned.

"My belief is that the goal it seems the PPA might be aiming to achieve—that it becomes common knowledge that this is not an appropriate slogan—has been reached," Ginter said.

"However, my belief is that the Supreme Court could indeed annul the misdemeanor decision, since the assumption that those who came out with this slogan were certain they truly wanted to support this idea... I think even they might not have known that," he added.

The November 2023 protest expressing solidarity with Palestine in the aftermath of bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel, itself a response to the October 7 Hamas terror attacks, saw five participants fined by the PPA over displaying the "From the river to the sea" slogan, in Estonian ("Joest mereni").

Four of the five approached the Estonian Human Rights Center, which opted to represent them, mainly on free speech grounds.

Klõšeiko does not support Hamas and did not know anything about the symbol's connections with Hamas, the center said.

The Harju County Court had ruled the phrase is not protected by freedom of expression in Estonia, meaning the PPA had the right to restrict its use.

Kelly Grossthal, the center's head of litigation, called the county court verdict "incomprehensible" and "sad," adding a PPA officer had admitted in court they only became aware the public display of the phrase was banned on the day of the protest.

Ronald Riistani had also argued the first tier court had failed to analyze the section of the penal code the fine was issued under, or Klõšeiko's awareness of the implications of the phrase, and also questioned whether the decision should have been delegated to the PPA.

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