Estonian border guards at the Russian-Estonian border have fined a man 400 euros for wearing a hat with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union. This was reported by the state broadcaster ERR.
ERR said that last Saturday a man was fined at the border in Narva who, according to border guards, exhibited an object with symbols of an “aggressor country”. According to the state broadcaster’s portal, the offender turned out to be an Estonian citizen who arrived at the border checkpoint from the Russian side.
“Under the object with the symbols of the aggressor country meant a white hat with the USSR emblem. The man was fined 400 euros, as such symbols are prohibited in Estonia,” ERR reported.
Last April, the Estonian parliament approved a law banning the use of “hostile symbols”. The legislative act punishes the public display of symbols that are linked to the justification or support of acts of genocide, aggression, war crime or crime against humanity.
The regulation does not specify specific criteria for defining “hostile symbols”. However, the Estonian police said that they include the St George symbol “Z”, ribbons, flags and emblems of the USSR and Russia, as well as Soviet military uniforms.
Earlier in Tallinn a man was fined for a sticker on his car “I am Russian”. Estonian law enforcement authorities argued that the man was “inciting hatred” in Estonian society.