Man who spray-painted 'Z' symbol on Estonia's Defense League HQ identified
A man who defaced the wall of the volunteer Defense League (Kaitseliit) headquarters in Tallinn with a "Z" symbol has been identified, Delfi reported
The Defense League building on Toompea tänav was on the night of December 30 defaced with graffiti which constitutes a hate symbol in Estonia, Postimees reported last week.
The graffiti, a "Z" symbol, which glorifies Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was spray-painted on an external wall of the building.
On Friday, Ida-Harju police station chief Inna Toater told Delfi the PPA had obtained video footage from a nearby security camera, which showed that the building was vandalized on the night of December 30, and that the act was carried out by the same person who defaced a pillar at Toompea castle, the Riigikogu building, with "Z" and "V" symbols.
The culprit in both cases has been identified as the same 32-year-old man who was last week sentenced to 20 days in prison over the Riigikogu graffiti.
Harju County Court sentenced Ivan Pletnev Wednesday, December 31, with the prison term effective immediately, after being found guilty of that act and also of defacing a sign on the fence at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tallinn, with the same symbol.
Toater added that the PPA takes all cases involving the use of symbols inciting hatred seriously. "People who use such symbols are under our extra attention," she said.
At the same time, Toater said a rise in such acts has not been identified, but has remained stable – the PPA gets reports of these types of incidents around once per week, she said.
"Last year, we received 483 reports across Estonia concerning the use of symbols inciting hatred, including cases involving 'Z' symbols as well as [black and orange] St. George ribbons on cars and the use of other aggressor symbols," Toater said.
"The number of cases, however, increases significantly in May," she added. May 9 is "Victory Day" in Russia.
The "Z" and "V" characters found in the Roman alphabet are not present in the Cyrillic alphabet. but were used as unit identification markers during Russia's initial, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They have become identified with glorifying the war of aggression.
In April 2022, the Riigikogu adopted a law banning this and other hate symbols, and the PPA has reiterated that the use of symbols that justify or support military aggression are prohibited by law in Estonia.
Editor's note: This piece was updated to include information on the individual who defaced the Defense League building wall.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Delfi, Postimees
