Poland Cracks Down on Pro-Democratic Foundation

The Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) filed a motion at the regional court of Warsaw-Mokotów to change the Management Board of the pro-democratic Wolni Obywatele Foundation to a forced administrator.

This means that in the case of court approval of the compulsory management of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, it takes over the actual power over the Foundation, its property, and even their logo. Obywatele RP is one of the largest pro-democracy movements in Poland, it became known in the world for blocking neo-Nazi demonstrations during the Polish Independence Day, when Polish citizens for their counter-demonstration were detained, and 14 women were attacked by fascists. Obywatele RP also organized major protests in July 2017 in the defense of free Polish courts and the rule of law in Poland.

The Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) finally decided to end the street opposition for good. They submitted an application for changing the Foundation’s management board, to a forced administrator nominated by the Minister of Internal Affairs.

The motion of the Ministry of Interior and Administration (MSWiA) was supported by evidence in the form of screenshots from the website www.obywatelerp.org. The applicant (MSWiA) submitted court materials accusing the management board of inciting others to break the law. According to the representative of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, the Foundation does not fulfill its statutory tasks. The action of the Ministry of Interior and Administration is interpreted as a political act and not as a concern for the risk of violating the law by the current Management Board of the Foundation. In Poland, nationalist organizations regularly break the Polish law: they use fascist symbolism, attack other demonstrations, and use illegal pyrotechnics. Despite this, it was the pro-democracy movement Obywatele RP that suffered a plea from the Interior Ministry for allegedly infringing the law.

At present, the ruling party, Law and Justice under the command of Jarosław Kaczyński, prosecutes the people defending our democracy by the police forces and the courts, and prevent us from demonstrating. This time it attempts to actually remove us from public life. Of course, the fact of taking over the Foundation’s property by the Ministry of Interior and Administration does not mean the disappearance of the movement. Obywatele RP it is the people, not the foundation.

Obywatele RP