The European Human Rights Court (EHCR) ruled on Thursday that a French criminal conviction against activists involved in a campaign to boycott products imported from Israel had no sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression.
France's highest appeals' court in 2015 upheld rulings that convicted campaigners on the basis of inciting racism and anti-Semitism.
Twelve people, who were part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, were sentenced over the distribution of leaflets in supermarkets in eastern France and wearing T-shirts in 2009 and 2010 calling for the boycott of Israeli goods.