A far-right extremist who plotted a terrorist attack against Muslims and politicians in Warsaw has been given a three-year jail term.
The accused – who can be named only as Tomasz M. under Polish privacy law – had, along with another person, planned to “carry out attacks using explosives and poisonous substances” against mosques, Muslim religious leaders, and politicians, said the National Public Prosecutor’s Office, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
He had belonged to an extremist group espousing far-right views that “operated on the territory of Poland until 10 November 2019”, added prosecutors, who investigated his activities along with the Internal Security Agency (ABW).
Zamachy miały być wymierzone w meczety znajdujące się w Warszawie, a także w osoby duchowne wyznania islamskiego i polityków. Ich celem miało być zastraszenie wielu osób, w tym osób wchodzących w skład mieszkającej w Polsce społeczności islamskiej. https://t.co/hNOIiyjKK1
— Katarzyna Kaczorowska (@kaczorowska2) July 4, 2022
“The findings of the investigation show that his attitude was radicalised over time,” continued the statement, which noted that Tomasz M. was found to have transmitted content that expressed the intention to commit and incited the committing of crimes against Muslims, including terrorist acts.
“Tomasz M. called for hatred on the basis of national, ethnic, racial and religious differences,” wrote prosecutors.
In a ruling announced today, Warsaw district court found Tomasz M. guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison. The ruling is not yet binding and can be appealed.
In January this year, another far-right radical who plotted to plant a bomb at a mosque in Poland was sentenced to five years and five months in prison by a Polish court.
He had been part of a group that sought to prevent the “Islamisation” of Poland and which was inspired by the terrorist mass killings of Anders Breivik in Norway and Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand.
Poland is home to one of Europe’s oldest Muslim communities, the Lipka Tatars, who live in an area on the border with Lithuania and Belarus. However, the majority of the country’s estimated 20,000-25,000 Muslims are now more recent immigrants who have mainly settled in large cities such as Warsaw.
Main image credit: Marcin Stepien / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
