Three LGBT activists have been sentenced for their role in an attack on a van displaying and broadcasting anti-LGBT messages on the streets of Warsaw. The pretrial detention of one of the activists, known by the name Margot, prompted mass protests by supporters in 2020.
The incident in question took place in June of that year, when the trio attacked a van being used by a conservative group, Fundacja Pro, to show images and slogans linking LGBT to paedophilia.
The three suspects – Margot, Paweł Sz. and Zuzanna M., whose surnames are withheld under Polish privacy – were indicted in 2021 for the crimes of hooliganism, assault and property damage.
Polish state TV has broadcast further footage of the incident that led to an LGBT activist being detained for two months
A van broadcasting anti-LGBT slogans was vandalised and its driver physically attacked
The activist (wearing glasses) is seen clearly pic.twitter.com/GQE1DLhNr3
— Daniel Tilles (@danieltilles1) August 9, 2020
Yesterday, a district court in Warsaw found all three guilty and sentenced them to periods of community service: one year for Margot, 11 months for Paweł Sz., and six months for Zuzanna M, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Additionally, Margot and Paweł Sz. were ordered to fix the damage they caused, pay Fundacja Pro 6,000 zloty (€1,332), and pay the aggrieved individuals in the case, named as Jan B. and Łukasz K., 5,000 zloty and 3,000 zloty respectively.
In issuing the sentence – which can still be appealed – judge Aleksandra Smyk noted that there was no doubt as to the identity of the perpetrators as the incident was caught on film. She added that, while people have the right to express their views, they must do so within the bounds of the law.
As the sentences were being issued, supporters of the activists verbally clashed outside the courthouse with Mariusz Dzierżawski, the head of Fundacja Pro, who had parked one of the anti-LGBT vans in the street.
The detention of an LGBT activist and resultant protests have highlighted a new, more radical – and often illegal – form of activism that has arisen in response to a government-led anti-LGBT campaign in Poland https://t.co/Do4TWRwYsQ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 12, 2020
The incident in 2020 came amid heightened tensions over LGBT issues in Poland. The national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party – and its candidate for that year’s presidential elections, Andrzej Duda – had been campaigning against what they call “LGBT ideology”.
In response, some LGBT activists hit back, including by hanging rainbow flags on monuments around Warsaw.
Fundacja Pro has itself drawn legal scrutiny for its anti-LGBT campaigning. Earlier this year, Dzierżawski was found guilty of criminal defamation for his “hate speech against homosexuals”.
The head of a conservative group that drives vans with anti-LGBT slogans around Polish cities has been convicted of criminal defamation.
A deputy justice minister condemned the ruling as a “scandalous repression against opponents of LGBT ideology” https://t.co/c6VkloCGQ8
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 23, 2023
Main image credit: Adam Stepien / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
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.
