The Supreme Court reviewed a case in which the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) fined protestor Leore Lisann Klõšeiko €120 under the Penal Code. On November 5, 2023, at a demonstration held at Freedom Square in Tallinn, Klõšeiko held a sign with the placard "from the river to the sea," which, in the PPA's assessment, publicly displayed a symbol associated with a crime against humanity in a manner that supported or justified that crime.

Klõšeiko's defense challenged the decision and requested the termination of the misdemeanor proceedings. However, Harju County Court rejected the appeal, after which the Estonian Human Rights Center took the case to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled to terminate the misdemeanor proceedings against Klõšeiko and upheld the appeal. The court also awarded Klõšeiko €4,809 to cover legal costs.

The section of the Penal Code under which the PPA imposed the fine states that publicly displaying a symbol associated with an act of aggression, genocide, a crime against humanity, or a war crime in a manner that supports or justifies such acts is punishable as a misdemeanor. Klõšeiko's defense questioned whether the phrase "from the river to the sea" falls under this provision.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber determined that the facts established by the county court do not support the conclusion that a bystander—an average reasonable person without specialized knowledge and with a general awareness of global political events—would have associated the phrase "from the river to the sea" specifically with Hamas and its actions in Estonia in November 2023.

"If a symbol can be objectively interpreted in multiple ways, even considering the time, place, and manner of its display, meaning that there is no clear societal consensus on its primary interpretation, then the offense cannot be deemed to have occurred. In such a situation, when assessing the objective elements of the offense under Section 151¹ of the Penal Code, it is irrelevant whether and how easily the person subject to proceedings could have familiarized themselves with the prevailing meaning of the symbol," the chamber stated.

The chamber also emphasized that freedom of expression, including restrictions on displaying symbols and imposing penalties for doing so, can only be limited if there is a compelling reason.

The phrase "from the river to the sea" features in a chant heard frequently during pro-Palestine demonstrations and refers to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean, the BBC writes.

The use of the chant is seen by Israel and many Jewish groups as a call for the destruction of Israel.

Pro-Palestinian activists say most people using the chant are calling for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza.

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