Forbidden songs. PLN 500 for listening to the song "Jeb...ć PiS" in the car near the seat of PiS

Laure - a French woman who has been living in Krakow for several years - regularly goes to protests in defense of women's rights, LGBT people, courts against politicization, etc. Also on August 11, when the TVN lex was adopted in the Sejm, she came for a spontaneous protest to the headquarters of PiS at ul. Rhetoric.

Plainclothes policemen are watching

It started at 9:00 pm. There were few people, but Laure's attention was drawn to two groups of young men, well built, half wearing masks. They resembled right-wing extremists. She recorded them because she feared they might attack the protesters. “Someone also told me at the picket that there was a strange group of guys standing there,” recalls Ewelina Pytel, president of the KOD Małopolska region, one of the main organizers of this spontaneous gathering.

We watched these movies - indeed, men could be mistaken for groups of nationalists.

One of them took a picture of Laure with a flash while she was filming him. After a while she realized they were plainclothes policemen. Before the picket ended, she went to the car to pick up her fiancé, Mikołaj, a Pole. She was followed by these plainclothes policemen. she got scared. She called the boy, the car was close.

They got into the VW and drove through ul. Rhetoric. As they passed the protest ending there, they played "Jeb...ć PiS" - a famous song by Cypis - from the car radio. Not too loud - one window in the car was only ajar.

"I remember when this car passed by. It must have been before 10:00 p.m., because we were wondering if we could disturb the night time with this picket and decided to finish it before that time,” describes Ewelina Pytel.

A few hundred meters further they were stopped by a silver bus, which turned on the roosters. According to our interlocutors, this vehicle is often seen at demonstrations in Krakow.

In the meantime, more police cars arrived, three in total. The riot police showed up, wearing balaclavas in black and pepper spray canisters. “For the first time in five years that I have lived in Poland, I felt seriously threatened,” recalls Laure. Random passers-by have already photographed, filmed and supported the detainees with advice. "Let him introduce himself to you. Introduce yourself!" – they shouted at the policeman who refused to give his name to Mikołaj.

After an hour of inspection, Laura's throat was dry from stress and nerves. She asked if she could buy water at the store across the street. NO.

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Evidence lock

Laure's fire extinguisher and triangle were not found. She agreed to a fine of PLN 200 for this lack. Patrol blocked her registration card electronically. "You can unlock it at any police station," they said. But then one of the passers-by brought the French-Polish couple a fire extinguisher and a triangle. They showed the traffic police that they already had them, but the uniform refused to unlock the ID.

At the police station on the Main Market Square, the duty officer noticed: "This blockade was set up a moment ago." And it also refused to unlock. Because how can he know that it is the equipment from this car (sic!). "Malice. He told me that I had to take a tow truck for a technical inspection and show there that it was a fire extinguisher and a triangle from our car,” describes Mikołaj. Only at the second police station, also after difficulties, they unlocked their registration card. Control and difficulties from the police took the French woman and the Pole 3 hours.

Mikołaj was summoned for questioning on August 18 as a suspect of breaking the above-mentioned rules. article 65a. He went with attorney Jarosław Stec, who, on behalf of the Lesser Poland KOD, pro publico bono defends demonstrators in Krakow. Nicholas refused to testify. In the report of the interrogation, it is written that the case concerns "significantly hindering the activities of an officer".

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PLN 500 for a song?

We asked the Provincial Police Headquarters in Krakow whether for listening to the famous song "Jeb.ć PiS" by Cypis, in front of the PiS headquarters in Krakow, the police are trying to punish the demonstrators with as many as 500 fines zloty? If so, what is the legal basis?

To our surprise, for the first time in months, we have received responses from the police. Though only general.

Asp. Szt. Barbara Szczerba wrote back: "Using profanity in public places (Article 141 of the Penal Code), disturbing peace and public order (Article 51 of the Penal Code) (...) are offenses punishable by a fine of up to PLN 500."

So, KWP is trying to issue PLN 500 fines for releasing the above. songs. Whereas Art. 141 of the EPC talks about punishing a person who "uses obscene words". Laure didn't use them, just played music.

We also asked whether the picket in front of the PiS headquarters on August 11, around 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, was observed by plainclothes policemen? Could these be the people in the photos? – we have attached screenshots from films that Laure has made.

"We do not provide information about the possible actions of operational policemen" - answers asp. Gap.

Another question: what was the reason for stopping the VW vehicle number … for a roadside check? And: do the police want to charge Mikołaj (name known to the editorial staff) for not following the officer's instructions for opening the door and sticking his leg out of the car?

KWP Kraków refused to answer, claiming that it protects privacy, and the editors of OKO.press would have to obtain "authorization from the vehicle user and authorization from the person against whom the intervention was conducted."

Another question: if, during the inspection, it was found that the car was missing e.g. a fire extinguisher and a warning triangle, and accepting a fine for this reason, the driver of the car will present that he has just purchased these items, then the patrol should electronically unlock the registration document in this vehicle?

This question we get a complete answer. “A police officer who has previously detained the registration document (by noting information about the retention of the document in the central register of vehicles) is not authorized to »unlock« it electronically. It must be done at the police station, at the police station or at the vehicle inspection station" - writes Asp. pcs. Barbara Szczerba.

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"This is my country now!"

After the incident, Laure cried in the car. "What country do we live in?! Gotta get out of here!" Now, a week later, Laure wonders what the police would have done with them had it not been for random witnesses and their help.

Shortly after the incident, she left to live with her parents in France. “They were in shock. They couldn't believe what had happened," says Laure.

"It was bullying, harassment. I saw guys that night who know they can do these things to me because they have power over me. I also felt threatened. I have lost all trust in authorities such as the police. If something were to happen to me now, I wouldn't call them,” adds Mikołaj.

Laure says today: "I will continue to fight for human rights and democracy. Because I love Poland. This is my country too. I am determined to stay."

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Police and services, Protests, lex TVN

Krzysztof Boczek

Silesian, a miner by education, then a geographer, photojournalist, trainer, and above all a journalist, from the beginning writing about travel and development, and for several years mainly about health care and the media. He started at Gazeta Wyborcza in Katowice, then an author in several dozen titles, for years a regular collaborator of PRESS, SENS, and the Health Service. In this profession, he values ​​independence.