Police criticized for role at nationalist march in Warsaw
Opposition politicians in Poland have criticized police for detaining anti-fascist activists but not reacting to the appearance of a Nazi-era symbol during a nationalist march
Police criticized for role at nationalist march in Warsaw
Show all 5Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Opposition politicians in Poland criticized police Saturday for detaining anti-fascist activists but not reacting to the appearance of a Nazi-era symbol during a nationalist march.
The detention of the activists occurred during Friday's yearly far-right-led Independence March in Warsaw.
Many liberal groups who oppose the march have accused the police for years of displaying favorable treatment toward the nationalists while treating protesters of the event unfairly.
The counter-protesters held white roses and a banner reading “Nationalism is not patriotism” before police removed them from a location near the march route.
An opposition lawmaker, Michal Szczerba of the centrist Civic Platform party, accused the ruling Law and Justice party Saturday of creating “an oppressive state” with its treatment of peaceful protesters.
A Polish senator who also is a member of the political opposition, Krzysztof Brejza, tweeted a photo from the march of participants carrying a banner with the “Black Sun” symbol of Nazi Germany's SS guards. Brejza noted that police did not intervene.
The promotion of totalitarian ideologies is illegal in Poland.
“During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, thousands of Poles died at the hands of German Nazis from the SS. I don’t know why the police didn’t respond to such criminal symbolism in Warsaw, which suffered so much in World War II. On the other hand, demonstrators with democratic views were forcibly removed,” Brezja told The Associated Press.
A police spokesman, Sylwester Marczak, said the detained activists, some from the group Obywatele RP, which means Citizens of Poland, were held for several hours because they had restricted the work of the police, and refused to show their identification documents.
“These are grounds for detention,” Marczak told TVN24, an independent all-news broadcaster in Poland.
Hanna Machinska, the country’s deputy human rights commissioner, went to the scene Friday evening to intervene. She said the protesters did not provide their IDs because they were not given a legal reason for doing so.
Machinska told TVN24 the protesters were standing on a lawn and not disturbing the march or its participants. She said those detained included older adults and her first mission was ensuring they had the chance to use a toilet.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.