A well-known protester known as “Babcia Kasia” (“Grandma Kate”), who has become a common sight at demonstrations in support of women’s and LGBT rights, has been convicted for attacking police officers.
The woman, who is named only as Katarzyna A. under Polish privacy law, was accused of “kicking, pulling and stamping on policemen”, reports Wprost. A court has convicted her to six months of community service, but she has contested that decision, meaning the case proceeds to full trial.
Katarzyna A. is part of a collective known as the “Polish Grannies” who have regularly protested against last year’s introduction of a near-total ban on abortion and in favour of LGBT rights. The activist has already been indicted a number of times but so far acquitted of similar crimes.
It is the eighth time "Babcia Kasia" has been indicted this year.
In April, a court acquitted her on the same charges, with the judge finding there was "no justification" for the police's actions against her https://t.co/18wjNK7O3K
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 20, 2021
On 27 September, a district court in Warsaw ruled that the activist had “violated the bodily integrity” of three police officers by kicking and pulling at them, as well as punching one of them, at an abortion protest in March this year.
Such demonstrations have been taking place since October last year, when the constitutional court introduced the near-total ban on abortion. They are the biggest protests in Poland’s post-communist history.
Some of the demonstrations saw scuffles between participants and the police, who said coronavirus restrictions were being breached and forcibly removed or detained protesters on several occasions.
In Katarzyna A.’s case, judge Urszula Gołębiewska-Budnik found that she had initially pushed a policeman “with both hands at the level of the chest” and “tugged at his tactical vest”, reports TVN24. The scuffle then continued in the police van. The activist has also been charged with insulting police officers.
As a punishment, the Warsaw court sentenced Katarzyna A. to half a year of unpaid community service of 20 hours every month, as well as cover the court fees of 220 zloty (€48).
However, this week Linus Lewandowski, an LGBT activist, revealed that the verdict is only “prescriptive”. That means it is handed down without a hearing and expires if any party files an objection.
"Polish Grannies vs. the far-right: Europe's unlikely democracy defenders"
This week's cover story in @csmonitor https://t.co/BIqfeWsprt
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 13, 2020
“Katarzyna’s lawyer has already filed an objection, and therefore the sentence has expired,” said Lewandowski, quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. “The case will be examined in the normal course, at hearings.”
A number of charges have been filed against participants in the abortion protests, including their figurehead, Marta Lempart, who is accused of insulting police, causing an epidemic threat and publicly praising crimes.
This week, another of the protests’ leaders, Klementyna S., was indicted by prosecutors for allegedly breaking into the grounds of the constiotutional court and pouring paint over a police officer, as well as damaging a historical church with graffiti. If found guilty, she could face a prison sentence.
Main image credit: Maciek Jazwiecki / Agencja Gazeta
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
