The much-anticipated trial against four alleged organizers of the Tallinn riots began this week amid a tranquil atmosphere at home and the requisite show of propaganda on the part of Russia. The four men are accused of fomenting the rioting that rocked the Estonia’s capital last April...

The defendants have denied their guilt, and even made counterclaims against the Estonian state, alleging police abuse and constitutional violations such as denying the right to legal counsel. Regardless, prosecutors are confident that they have compiled a strong case against the four - all ethnic Russians - who face up to five years in prison.

Put mildly, it would appear that the goose has been cooked for the four defendants. Some of them, if not all, were followed by security police for months before the rioting took place. Their phones were also tapped. Indeed, it is the latter that will likely serve as the prosecutors’ smoking gun. One can easily imagine that any of the four, in the heat of the moment on April 26 - 27, began phoning contacts and “rallying the troops.” The language used was, in all likelihood, very harsh (and could eventually become a fine primer to the rich obscenities in the Russian language).

The court case will also be interesting in that it could shed light on Russia’s role in the mayhem. Moscow has denied any role in the riots, and the subsequent cyber-attacks...

But there is a pleasing footnote to the latter ordeal. Nashi activists have in recent days discovered that their road to Europe has been blocked. Due to their aggressive behavior against Estonia, the Baltic state has declared them personae non grata for travel to the European Union.

Now the poor activists - who aren’t really activists but protesters-for-hire -are moaning that they can’t get to Helsinki or Madrid because they’ve been blacklisted. For us, this has provided a wonderful sense of schadenfreude.