On January 29, the verdict of the State Court in the case of Jüri Kivit, convicted of desecrating the Estonian anthem, came into force. The defense's cassation appeal was not accepted, Baltija portal reported.
The Tallinn District Court upheld the decision of the first instance, changing only the order of payment for the expertise: the state will pay for it instead of Kivit.
Kivit was found guilty under Article 245(1) of the Penitentiary Code and fined 2,500 euros, which he must pay within a year.
Criminal proceedings were initiated in 2022 after Kivit published the song “My country has gone mad” to the tune of the Estonian anthem. The prosecutor considered it an abuse of the national symbol.
Kivit's lawyer insisted on his acquittal, arguing that the law does not classify the anthem as an official symbol, but the court disagreed. The case was a precedent, as previously only desecration of the flag was punished under this article.
Jüri Kivit calls his works poetry-sarcasm, and calls himself an Estonian patriot of common sense.
The Tallinn District Court upheld the decision of the first instance, changing only the order of payment for the expertise: the state will pay for it instead of Kivit.
Kivit was found guilty under Article 245(1) of the Penitentiary Code and fined 2,500 euros, which he must pay within a year.
Criminal proceedings were initiated in 2022 after Kivit published the song “My country has gone mad” to the tune of the Estonian anthem. The prosecutor considered it an abuse of the national symbol.
Kivit's lawyer insisted on his acquittal, arguing that the law does not classify the anthem as an official symbol, but the court disagreed. The case was a precedent, as previously only desecration of the flag was punished under this article.
Jüri Kivit calls his works poetry-sarcasm, and calls himself an Estonian patriot of common sense.