Pensioner handed suspended prison sentence for online threat against Polish charity chief

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A 67-year-old woman has been handed a suspended prison sentence for a Facebook comment in which she expressed hope that Jerzy Owsiak, the head of Poland’s biggest annual charity fundraiser, would die.

Her lawyers, from a prominent conservative legal group, have condemned the ruling as an attack on free speech aimed at those who criticise anyone sympathetic towards the current government.

Owsiak is the founder and frontman of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP), which is one of Europe’s biggest annual charity fundraisers. Since its founding in 1993, it has raised almost 3 billion zloty (€714 million) to buy medical equipment for Polish hospitals.

Despite this, WOŚP is not popular among some Polish conservatives, who dislike Owsiak’s secular, liberal values and have accused him of involving his organisation in politics, as well as of personally benefiting financially from his charity.

Last year, shortly before WOŚP’s televised grand finale, police announced that they were investigating “very specific threats” against Owsiak, which he said had been incited by conservative television stations.

On Wednesday, the district court in Toruń convicted a 67-year-old woman, who can be named only as Izabela M., of seeking to incite a crime against Owsiak and of making criminal threats.

In a comment under a post on Owsiak’s Facebook account, she had written:

“Die, man, and as soon as possible[.] Enough of the theft[,] enough of you making money off the naivety of Poles[,] your villas abroad, your villa in Poland[,] your children studying abroad and you and your wife’s salaries…settle your accounts and change your glasses because LGBT wear that kind.”

During the court proceedings, Owsiak testified that the post had caused him to fear for his own and his family’s safety, reports the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Judge Marcin Czarciński, who handed Izabela M. a six-month suspended prison sentence, found that the accused was aware of what she was doing and the fact that it could mobilise others to act, reports broadcaster TVN.

He also ordered her to pay 1,000 zloty (€238) to Owsiak and banned her from approaching or contacting him for three years.

The ruling was condemned by Ordo Iuris, a prominent conservative legal association that had represented Izabela M. in the case.

The sentence is “repression of free speech and is intended to silence citizens who hold a different opinion about the current government or its favourites”, said Ordo Iuris lawyer Magdalena Majkowska. Supporters of Izabela M. who attended the court hearing chanted “down with communism”.

The sentence was also condemned by figures from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party. Maciej Wąsik, a former PiS government minister, called it a “draconian sentence”.

Speaking to broadcaster TVN, however, Owsiak argued that the action against Izabela M. was not an attack on freedom of speech. “When someone lies, saying I’m getting rich off the foundation, that’s not freedom of speech, that’s simply an accusation,” he said.

Owsiak said that he would return the 1,000 zloty fine to the woman and called on her to “meet with me, we’ll hug and forget about it”.

WOŚP held its annual grand finale last Sunday, once again breaking its record for donations. Just over 183 million zloty (€43.5 million) was raised by the end of the night, with more money continuing to come in since then.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ralf Lotys/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 4.0)

Daniel Tilles

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.