Lithuanian court overturns 800-euro fine for displaying St. George ribbon

A court in Vilnius overturned an 800-euro fine imposed on pro-Russian activist Erika Shvenchenene for publicly displaying the St. George ribbon — a black-and-orange symbol of the Soviet era that is banned in Lithuania along with the five-pointed star with the hammer and sickle.

Court reasoning

Judge Zina Vilniene noted that it remained unclear who had created and uploaded the video featuring the banned communist symbols to YouTube, where it was freely accessible to all users. The court also found that police had failed to determine from which country and device the video was uploaded, and whether the video had been edited or was original.

Since these circumstances are of evidentiary significance, it is impossible to fully and objectively resolve the question of the person's guilt without establishing them, Judge Vilniene stated.

The court ruled it could not conclude that Shvenchenene had publicly displayed the banned symbols at the time and place in question, and returned the case to police for further investigation.