Two boys aged 12 and 13 who vandalised statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary by burning their eyes have confessed to the crime of offending religious feelings. The offence can carry a sentence of up to two years in prison, though the pair will be tried in a juvenile court rather than as adults.
The incident in question took place last month at a 150-year-old chapel in the village of Żuklin, southeast Poland. The local official who reported it noted that the eyes of the statues had probably been burned with cigarettes.
Soon after, police headquarters in the nearby town of Przeworsk told broadcaster Polsat that they were investigating the incident and searching for the perpetrators, who were to be held responsible for the crime of offending religious feelings.
The police also revealed that the statues of Mary and Jesus had been cleaned up by a local resident and provided a photograph.
“I tried to remove the ash and soot. I managed to clean them, but unfortunately the eyes were destroyed,” the local woman, named only as Halina, told the Fakt newspaper. “It makes me want to cry.”
Last week, police announced that they had detained two boys, aged 12 and 13, on suspicion of perpetrating the crime.
“The evidence collected by officers allowed for the presentation of charges of offending religious feelings,” stated the police. “During questioning, the juveniles confessed to the alleged acts.” They will now face further proceedings before the family and juvenile court in Przeworsk.
Poland’s blasphemy laws have been increasingly used in recent years. In April, two women were found guilty of offending religious feelings for displaying an image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus with rainbow haloes during an LGBT march.
In 2021, two teenage high-school students were convicted of insulting the president – another of Poland’s various criminal insult laws – after they tore down election posters of President Andrzej Duda and shouted vulgarities about him.
A man has been detained on suspicion of vandalising a statue of former Pope John Paul II.
He is charged with “offending religious feelings” and “insulting a monument”, crimes in Poland that could result in a prison sentence of up to two years https://t.co/qggoOy8L1W
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 7, 2023
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Main image credit: Mirosław Hejnosz/Facebook
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.
