On September 14, 2015, Estonian border guards denied entry to Marina Perekrestova,
deputy director of the Directorate of multimedia programs International information agency
Rossiya Segodnya. The Embassy of Russian Federation in Estonia commented on this
fact and perceived it as an “attempt to restrict the freedom of speech, use double
standards in relation to undesirable mass media and limit the access of population of
Estonia to opinions other than those dominating the local information field”.
On the basis of decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated July 22, 2015, Mr. Victor
Guschin, member of the World Coordinative Council of Compatriots, was refused entry into
Estonia while he was traveling from Saint-Petersburg to Latvia by international bus.
Recently ICHR’s lawyers have helped to file with the Estonian courts 6 lawsuits against
Estonian authorities which denied the entry to persons whose actions or opinions pose a
threat to national security. Two lawsuits were already heared in the first instance and were
not upheld. In both cases Court formally approached the case and ascertained the right of
authorities to refuse entry (this was never denied by plaintiffs). Court opted not to check the
genuineness of the allegations and the necessity of state-imposed limits in the democratic
society, and thus, refused to deal with the freedom of speech issue.