Polish police detain 48 people after LGBT protest

Reuters•August 8, 2020

Polish police detain 48 people after LGBT protest
LGBT supporters protest in Warsaw

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish police said they detained 48 people after protesters tried to stop them arresting an LGBT activist accused of hanging rainbow flags over statues in Warsaw and damaging a pro-life campaigner's van.

Crowds of protesters shouting "Shame, disgrace!" surrounded a police vehicle in the centre of the capital on Friday to try and stop it driving away with the activist inside. A court ordered the activist detained for two months.

Members of the anti-homophobia group "Stop Bzdurom" have said they hung flags on statues of Jesus and other figures last week as part of a fight for LGBT rights, an issue thrust into the heart of public debate in Poland during last month's presidential election.

The ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party says LGBT rights are part of what it calls an invasive foreign ideology that undermines Polish values and the traditional family.


Condemning Friday's protest, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said Polish authorities had to act or face "even more violent" attacks by activists.

"Tomorrow this knife that was used to cut the car and tyres (of the pro-life campaigner) will be used to stab people just because we don't like their opinions," Ziobro told a news conference on Saturday.

The commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, a rights watchdog, called for the immediate release of the activist.

"Order to detain her for 2 months sends very chilling signal for freedom of speech and LGBT rights in Poland," Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic tweeted.

Stop Bzdurom and other groups have called for a protest in Warsaw on Saturday in solidarity with LGBT people.

Polish police detain 48 protesting LGBT activist's arrest

JANEK SKARZYNSKI,
AFP•August 8, 2020



Police said some of those arrested had tried to block a police car transporting detained gay rights activist Margo

Polish police said Saturday they detained about 50 demonstrators who tried to prevent the arrest of a gay rights activist in the capital Warsaw, which sparked criticism from rights groups.

The activist, who was referred to officially in court as Michal Sz. but who identifies as a woman named Margot, is suspected of causing damage to a van plastered with homophobic slogans in Warsaw in June.

A court order mandated two months of pre-trial detention for the activist, who is also accused of pushing a volunteer from the Pro-Right to Life Foundation which owned the van.

Margot was detained on Friday at the offices of Campaign Against Homophobia but dozens of protesters then blocked the police car, prompting a stand-off before officers cleared the way to allow it to pass.


Warsaw police said on Twitter that 48 people were arrested in connection with "insults directed at police as well as damage to a police car."

"As soon as the man was arrested and taken into the police car, a group of people leapt toward the police car and started to jump on it," Warsaw police spokesman Sylwester Marczak said.

"We took steps to ensure both the safety of the police, the detainee and the safety of" a church which was the "target" of some of the protesters, he said.

Margot called pre-trial detention, which is normally used to prevent another crime being committed, a "repressive" measures, in comments to the PAP news agency before her arrest.

Her arrest prompted outrage from opposition politicians and rights groups.

The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic quickly called for Margot's release.

Mijatovic tweeted that the activist was detained "for blocking an anti-LGBT hate van and putting rainbow flags on Warsaw monuments," adding that an order for Margot's two-month detention sends a "very chilling signal" for freedom of speech and LGBT rights in Poland.

Margot belongs to a campaign group called Stop The Nonsense, which is also suspected of draping several Warsaw monuments, including a statue of Jesus Christ, with LGBT flags last week.

Prosecutors have charged three people in that case for desecrating monuments and hurting religious feelings.

Hanna-Gill Piatek, a leftist lawmaker, was at the scene of Margot's arrest.

"I wish serious criminals were prosecuted as diligently as activists," she said.

The van from the Pro-Right to Life Foundation is a common sight in the centre of Warsaw, blasting homophobic slogans and plastered with posters linking homosexuality to paedophilia.

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