• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: Activists Risk Jail for Poster Campaign (Poland: UA 97.20)

June 12, 2020

On 10 June, two Polish activists were charged with ‘theft and burglary’ in relation to a poster campaign accusing the government of manipulating COVID-19 statistics. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison. The charges are baseless and appear to be intended to punish those who freely express their criticism of the authorities. The Polish authorities must drop the criminal charges against both activists and close the investigation.

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  1. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
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Minister of Interior Mr. Mariusz Kamiński Due to postal restrictions caused by COVID-19, please only send physical mail to the Embassy Fax: 0048 (22) 601 39 88 Email: [email protected] [email protected]
Ambassador Piotr Wilczek Embassy of the Republic of Poland 2640 16th St. NW, Washington DC 20009 Phone: 202 499-1700 I Fax: 202 328-6271 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @PolishEmbassyUS @AmbWilczek Salutation: Dear Ambassador
Dear Minister of Interior, I am writing to express my concern over the detention of two activists and the charges brought on 10 June against them in relation to a poster campaign in Warsaw accusing the government of manipulating COVID-19 statistics. The two activists were detained in the context of an open investigation into the replacement of bus advertisements with posters on 29 and 30 May 2020. The posters alleged that the government manipulated COVID-19 statistics, depicting the Minister of Healthcare dressed as a Knight of Malta holding a sign that read ‘Gospel of Łukasz Sz.’ and listed other allegations against him. One of the activists, a well-known and outspoken human rights defender, was detained on the night of 8 June after a house search. She was held for 41 hours and was refused access to her lawyer until her release on 10 June. Her laptop, phones and a tablet were confiscated. The second activist was detained on 9 June and released 20 hours later. They were charged with the offense of ‘theft and burglary’ on the basis of article 279.1 of the Criminal Code, punishable with 1 to 10 years. The right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Poland is a party, protects the creation and distribution of posters such as this, even if they are critical of the authorities. While the authorities are claiming there was damage to property because the posters covered advertisements which amount to a loss of 100 Euros (450 Złoty), the charges that the police are pursuing do not reflect this conduct. It is unclear why these charges were brought as the activists did not take anything with them that could amount to theft or burglary. Amnesty International is concerned that these charges are baseless and appear to be intended to punish the activists for their criticism of the authorities. I urge you to ensure that the investigation against the two activists for ‘theft and burglary’ is closed and the charges are dropped immediately. Yours sincerely, ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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