Police respond to criticism for arresting journalist at abortion protest in Warsaw

A journalist, Agata Grzybowska, was forcibly detained by police while covering one of Poland’s ongoing abortion protests yesterday.

Her treatment has been condemned by fellow journalists, opposition politicians and international rights groups, who say police acted in an unjustified and excessive manner against someone clearly identifying themselves as a member of the press.

The police, however, say that Grzybowska was detained on suspicion of the crime of violating the bodily integrity of a police officer. They note that being a journalist does not give one immunity from the law.

Videos published on social media last night show Grzybowska being detained by a group of police officers at a protest outside the education ministry. During the arrest, she showed police her press card while members of the crowd shouted that she is a journalist.

Grzybowska – an award-winning photojournalist who works with Associated Press, Gazeta Wyborcza and the RATS Agency – was taken to a nearby police station, charged with violating the bodily integrity of an officer, then released after a few hours.

“I was brutally pushed into a police van, where they were trying to tell me that I was the aggressor,” wrote Grzybowska in a statement published on social media. She claimed that at the police station she was pressured to plead guilty, but she refused to do so.

The International Press Institute (IPI), a Vienna-based organisation committed to promoting press freedom, put out a statement “strongly protesting” Grzybowska’s arrest. It also issued a media freedom alert, which IPI uses to register concern at potential infringements of journalists’ rights.

Andrew Stroehlein, the European media director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based NGO, shared a photo of Grzybowska being detained while showing her press card to police. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” he wrote.

In Poland itself, Kinga Rusin, a well-known television presenter, called the police’s actions “symbolic”. “A female journalist showing the truth and her press card seems to embody the enemy for this government,” wrote Rusin in a social media post.

Marcin Lewicki, president of the Press Club Polska, part of the International Association of Press Clubs, announced today that he had submitted a formal notification accusing the police of violating both Poland’s press law – by obstructing press criticism – and criminal law, by abusing their power.

The police have, however, defended the actions of officers. Their spokesman, Mariusz Ciarka, notes that police were unaware that Grzybowska was a member of the press when they decided to detain her.

They did so because she had violated the bodily integrity of an officer. Speaking to TOK FM, Ciarka said that the journalist “admits she deliberately flashed her [camera] lamp in the police officer’s eyes”. In her statement, Grzybowska notes that she was simply doing her job by taking photos.

According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), police have also accused Grzybowska of kicking the police officer. The police have not officially confirmed this, instead simply tweeting that people should “carefully watch” a video of the incident published by website OKO.press.

Only after police decided to detain Grzybowska did she identify herself as a journalist, says Ciarka. But having a press card does not “absolve you from responsibility if we suspect that a crime was committed”, he added.

Ciarka also noted that Grzybowska has admitted to being a supporter of the protests against a near-total abortion ban. Her “statement is quite emotional and shows she has sympathies for a certain side,” said the police spokesman. “In my opinion, she admitted that this is not how a professional photojournalist should behave.”

The head of the prime minister’s chancellery, Michał Dworczyk, said that he does not know “if this woman was taking photos for work, or was participating in an illegal gathering”. But regardless, “if someone does not obey the law, they must count on consequences”.

Earlier this month, police also faced criticism over their handling of the nationalist Independence March, at which officers used force against members of the press. One 74-year-old photojournalist was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, leaving him requiring surgery.

Last week, officers were again accused of excessive force after using tear gas and batons against another abortion protest in Warsaw. Among those targeted was an MP, who was pepper sprayed in the eyes by a non-uniformed officer while trying to show police her parliamentary ID card.

A police spokesman dismissed accusations of unjustified and wanton use of force, explaining that the officers were responding to confrontational behaviour of “very aggressive” protesters.

An opinion poll published today by Kantar for TVN24 found that 59% of Poles believe the police’s response to recent abortion protests has been “not appropriate”. Only 24% think that it has been.

Another poll, by IBRiS for Interia, found that only 44% of Poles trust the police, which is 20 percentage points lower than in a similar survey by the same firm three years ago. Those not trusting the police increased 14 percentage points to 33%

Main image credit: Maciek Jazwiecki / Agencja Gazeta

Agnieszka Wądołowska

Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna