Prosecutors have launched investigations into Women’s Strike (Strajk Kobiet), the main organiser of ongoing mass protests against a constitutional court ruling that would introduce a near-total ban on abortion in Poland
The authorities are looking into three potential crimes: endangering life and health by organising the protests during the pandemic; insulting people due to their religious affiliation; and inciting illegal actions.
News of the investigations, which were launched after notifications of potential crimes by anti-abortion organisations and individuals, was originally reported by wPolityce, a conservative news website. It was then confirmed by the spokeswoman for Warsaw district prosecutor’s office, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz.
The developments come after the national public prosecutor last month instructed his subordinates to seek charges against organisers of the protests, which are believed to be the largest in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989.
Prosecutors are under the ultimate authority of the prosecutor general, Zbigniew Ziobro, who also serves as justice minister. That dual role has led many observers to warn of increased politicisation of the prosecutorial service.
Senior figures from the national-conservative ruling coalition, including Ziobro, have repeatedly condemned the protests – which have diminished from their initial size but still continue – and expressed support for restricting the abortion law.
Skrzyniarz, speaking to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), confirmed that “the first thread [of the investigation] concerns insults that took place in Warsaw and other cities in October against groups of people on account of their religious affiliation, using words that are generally considered offensive”.
Publicly insulting people due to their religious affiliation is a crime punishable with up to three years in prison.
On 25 October, the first Sunday after the protests broke out, some participants disrupted masses, confronted priests and graffitied the walls of churches. In response, nationalists formed groups to defend churches from the protesters, leading to some clashes.
Women’s Strike have encouraged opposition to the church. Among their list of demands is for Poland to become a fully secular state, including ending public funding for the church and Catholic catechism classes in schools.
The second issue being examined by prosecutors reportedly concerns remarks by Marta Lempart, the leader of Women’s Strike, on 26 October. According to Skrzyniak, they are investigating whether she “called for illegal actions and expressed her approval for committing crimes against the Catholic church”.
Public incitement to commit a crime is punishable by up to two years in prison. Publicly praising the committing of a crime can result in a sentence of up to one year.
In the interview in question, Lempart, when asked about the protest actions against churches, told Radio Zet that it was understandable that “people are really pissed off at church institutions”.
“These men went too far, these men went into our lives and into our bodies,” said Lempart. “They should have expected this reaction and it will happen again, if they don’t finally grasp what has happened.”
The final issue in the investigation relates to endangering public health, a crime that can carry a prison sentence of up to eight years.
“There is a suspicion of endangering the life and health of numerous people by causing an epidemiological threat relating to the spreading of coronavirus during public gatherings organised to express opposition after the ruling of Constitutional Tribunal”, explained Skrzyniarz.
Last month, when the national public prosecutor called for charges to be sought against protest organisers for endangering the public, he suggested that even simply calling for demonstrations “may qualify as incitement to a crime”.
The protests, and the threat they could pose to health, has also been heavily criticized by Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Kaczyński serves only as deputy prime minister but is Poland’s de facto leader.
“These demonstrations will most certainly cost many lives,” warned the PiS chairman. “Those who call for them and participate in them cause a threat and are committing a serious crime. The authorities not only have a right, but an obligation to oppose such events”.
In fact, since the start of November the daily numbers of new coronavirus cases have been falling, with the health minister saying last week that the situation has now “stabilised”.
The leaders of Women’s Strike have responded to news of the investigations by claiming that they are politically motivated.
“The government likes to scare people and use its power to silence citizens,” Klementyna Suchanow told OKO.press. “They are moving further into repression.”
“These are repressive measures intended to have a chilling effect, so that no one would dare to organise more of these types of events,” Katarzyna Gajowniczek-Pruszyńska, a lawyer specialising in criminal law, told the same website. “It is a classic of repressive and authoritarian states.”
Main image credit: Marcin Stepien / Agencja Gazeta
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
