Artist on trial in Poland for offending religious feelings with abortion protest painting

A Polish-Dutch artist is going on trial for a second time over a painting showing a crucifix entering a woman’s vagina. Its creator, Krzysztof Soroka, was already last year convicted of “offending religious feelings” – a crime in Poland that carries a prison sentence of up to two years – for the same image.

The painting is intended as criticism of the church’s support for a near-total abortion ban introduced in 2021. It was created in the context of the mass protests that erupted in Poland in 2020 after the constitutional court issued the ruling that led to that ban.

Soroka took his painting multiple times to protests in the city of Szczecin, including on 28 January 2021, just after the abortion ruling went into force.

 

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A post shared by Krzysztof Soroka (@nokolor_)

Two weeks later, the painter was summoned by police after a representative of the Catholic association Fidei Defensor filed a complaint that the image offended his religious feelings “by publicly insulting the cross”, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.

The case went to trial, and a court initially acquitted the artist, finding that “the painting, as an artistic creation, does not cause offence to religious feelings”.

“Undoubtedly, this is not an attack on Jesus Christ on the cross himself, nor on the Catholic faith as such, but at most a sharp, on the border of decency and good taste, protest against the state yielding to the clergy,” the judge wrote in the justification.

Prosecutors appealed against that verdict, and a higher court then found Soroka guilty. The artist “should have taken into account the feelings of others”, found the judge, who added that the image was “an obvious transgression of sensitivity”. He imposed a 2,000 zloty (€427) fine.

“Religious feelings rule over freedom of speech and my artistic freedom,” wrote Soroka on Instagram after the ruling. “It shows you how ill our democracy and justice system are.”

Now, however, the artist is on trial again, because Fidei Defensor filed another complaint to prosecutors regarding Soroka displaying the same image at a protest on a different day, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.

“I have the impression that these people are all about destroying me,” said Soroka, whose latest trial was due to start today.

Poland’s blasphemy law has been invoked against a number of artists and activists, including pop star Doda and musician Adam “Nergal” Darski, lead singer of metal band Behemoth.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights found that Doda’s conviction for offending religious feelings violated her right to freedom of expression.

However, Poland’s justice minister has proposed even stricter laws, under which anyone who “publicly insults or ridicules the church” could be jailed for up to two years.

Main image credit: Cezary Aszkielowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.