Court doesn't allow pro-Kremlin activist to return to Estonia

The «Immortal Regiment» march in Tallinn in 2018. Zoja Paljamar (on the left). On the right stands Sergei Tšaulin, who has also been deported from Estonia by the police for security reasons. Photo: Fotogalerii tegid: Eero Vabamägi / Postimees, Marko Saarm, Valdo Ots

The Tallinn Administrative Court on Thursday rejected a complaint by pro-Kremlin activist Zoja Paljamar, expelled from Estonia in the summer of 2023, in which she sought the restoration of her residence permit.

The court stated that the decision of the Police and Border Guard Board of June 8, 2023, to revoke Paljamar's residence permit was due to the threat to public order and national security -- grounds provided for in the Aliens Act.

The court held that the decision to revoke the residence permit was based on sufficient evidence. The Police and Border Guard Board had assessed Paljamar's social media posts and participation in demonstrations, finding that they posed a threat to the security of the state. Paljamar said in her complaint that the Police and Border Guard Board did not hear her before revoking the residence permit. According to the court, the decision to not hear was legally justified.

One of the reasons for Paljamar's expulsion was her cooperation with persons deemed to be a threat to Estonia's security and her participation in the activities of the NGO Dobrosvet. This NGO, established in 2015, was involved in the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas of Ukraine that were already under Russian control at the time.

The founders of said NGO include Allan Hantsom, who was convicted by a court last year of organizing an act of vandalism against the car of Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets on behalf of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The NGO was also closely linked to pro-Kremlin provocateur Alexei Esakov, who was expelled from Estonia by the Internal Security Service (ISS) in spring 2022.

In her complaint to the court, Paljamar argued that, although she knew some of the people who were active in the NGO Dobrosvet, her role with the NGO was limited to packing humanitarian aid, loading it onto vehicles and keeping a list of humanitarian aid.

Acting on the proposal of the ISS, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board on June 8, 2023, revoked Paljamar's residence permit and imposed a 10-year Schengen area entry ban on her. Paljamar, a person of undefined citizenship, was taken to the Estonian-Russian border, and she has since been living in Russia.

Paljamar was subsequently visited in Russia by Jana Toom, member of the European Parliament from the Estonian Center Party. The MEP explained to the media that she met Paljamar while she was visiting her sister in Russia, and she went to Paljamar to deliver a bag with necessary items and medicines sent by Paljamar's partner and to check on how she was doing.