Similar to its March ruling in the cassation appeal filed on behalf of Leore Klõšeiko, the Supreme Court found that the misdemeanor proceedings against Hamed — initiated under the same section of the Code of Misdemeanor Procedure — must be dropped as well.

The court also ordered the state to pay €4,809.40 to cover Hamed's legal fees in the case.

The Supreme Court stated that the Criminal Chamber upheld its earlier position that, in November 2023, a generally informed bystander without expert knowledge — i.e. an average reasonable person in Estonia — did not specifically associate the phrase "From the river to the sea" with Hamas and its actions. The first-tier district court had not established any facts that would support a contrary conclusion.

"Although the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) informed the organizers of the public assembly that the symbol was inappropriate for public display in Estonia, this does not mean that, from the perspective of an average reasonable person, the expression in question was understood in Estonia as a symbol linked to crimes committed against Jews and the State of Israel," the Supreme Court said.

The court noted that the expert report commissioned from semioticians in Tartu does conclude that the use of the phrase "from the river to the sea" at a pro-Palestinian protest can, in one sense, be interpreted as support for acts that meet the definitions of crimes against humanity and genocide. However, an expert is not qualified to make a legal determination as to whether the criteria for an offense are met.

Due to the absence of an objective element — namely, a symbol associated with an international crime — it is irrelevant whether the individual under investigation was aware or should have known about the antisemitic meaning of the expression, the court stated.

The Supreme Court also found that a ban on public display is only constitutional in the case of a symbol whose meaning is unambiguously clear to the average person in Estonia at the time of display, and which may, as a result, divide society, pose a danger or cause harm.

As a result, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court upheld the cassation appeal, overturning the July 11, 2024 ruling by Harju District Court and terminating misdemeanor proceedings against Hamed.

In his dissent, Supreme Court Justice Hannes Kiris argued that the Criminal Chamber's majority underestimates the average Estonian resident.

With a decision dated December 5, 2023, the PPA fined Nasim T.m. Hamed 40 fine units — equivalent to €160 — under section 151¹, subsection 1 of the Penal Code.

According to the decision, the individual in question shouted the phrase "From the river to the sea" at a protest held at Freedom Square in Tallinn on November 5 of that year, thereby publicly displaying a symbol associated with a crime against humanity in a manner that supported or justified the act.

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