Polish activist “Grandma Kate” to once more face trial for attacking police

An activist broadly often called “Babcia Kasia” (“Grandma Kate”), who has develop into a typical sight at protests in assist of ladies’s and LGBT rights, is once more to face trial for allegedly attacking police. It’s the newest in a collection of comparable indictments towards her, although she is but to obtain a binding conviction.

The most recent case pertains to occasions that occurred on 11 November 2021 in the course of the annual nationalist Independence March in Warsaw. The occasion, organised by three far-right teams, attracts tens of 1000’s of contributors but in addition anti-fascist counterprotesters.

Amongst them final yr was Babcia Kasia, who is called solely as Katarzyna A. underneath Polish privateness legislation. She was a part of a gaggle that gathered at Dmowski Roundabout, the place the march begins, and was pictured being forcibly eliminated by police.

Considered one of her fellow protesters, Wojciech Kinasiewicz of Residents of the Republic (Obywatele RP), advised TVN24 on the time that police had acted in an “exceptionally brutal” method, together with verbally abusing the protesters in addition to bodily eradicating them.

A spokesman for Warsaw police, Sylwester Marczak, stated that for security causes they’d requested the group to maneuver 100 metres away from the march. After the protesters refused, “a call was made to evacuate these folks from the roundabout”.

Police accused Katarzyna A. of bodily attacking and spitting at them, in addition to shouting vulgar abuse. Afterwards, even one main left-wing MP, Anna-Maria Żukowska, known as on folks “to not make a hero out of somebody who’s aggressive, primitively insults and beats folks”.

As we speak, the district prosecutor’s workplace in Warsaw introduced that it has indicted Katarzyna A. for the crimes of violating the bodily integrity of a police officer (a criminal offense that carries a jail sentence of as much as three years) and insulting an officer. They stated she had pushed a policewoman and tried to seize her digital camera.

Prosecutors have beforehand issued at the very least 12 indictments for comparable offences towards Katarzyna A. over her actions in the direction of police at earlier protests. Two had been filed in February this yr, reported TVP Information, and one other in November final yr, in keeping with the Polish Press Company (PAP).

Up to now, nonetheless, Katarzyna A. has not acquired a legally binding conviction for any offence. Final October, a decide discovered her responsible of attacking police underneath an expedited authorized course of, however Katarzyna A. used her proper to contest that call and demand a full trial, which is but to happen.

Katarzyna A. additionally received a authorized battle in December, when the Supreme Courtroom rejected a last enchantment by prosecutors towards a courtroom ruling that had acquitted her of attacking police at a protest final April.

The courtroom discovered that police had made “disproportionate use of coercive measures” on the “peacefully carried out” protest. It additionally dominated that the actions of Katarzyna A. herself, which had been proven in video proof, had not constituted a risk, reported Wirtualna Polska.

“Within the peaceable state of affairs of a spontaneous meeting, public authorities ought to present a sure diploma of tolerance in order that the liberty of meeting assured within the structure doesn’t lose its essence,” stated decide Marek Pietruszyński.

Babcia Kasia continues to be held in excessive esteem by many who assist the causes that she fights for. Final week, she was named one of many “Superheroines of the Yr” by Wysokie Obcasy, {a magazine} geared toward ladies that’s printed by main liberal every day Gazeta Wyborcza.

Important picture credit score: Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Gazeta