Cracow. Mrs. Joanna's previously discontinued case is back. “Political matter”

Let us remind you: Mrs. Joanna's case was revealed by Renata Kijowska in “Fakty TVN”. The woman came to the emergency room after taking an abortion pill. The doctor notified the police, and the ambulance was “escorted” to the hospital by a police car. Then the police were to participate in the examination and carry out activities with the woman in the office. In the hospital, the policemen surrounded Mrs. Joanna with a cordon, and the policewomen entered the gynecology office with her. On the officers' orders, Mrs. Joanna was to undress, squat and cough. The then police commander stated that the main reason for the police action was a report of a suspected suicide attempt.

The woman found the police officers' behavior unfair and reported the possibility of committing a crime that would involve abuse of powers. In the summer of 2023, it was first sent to the District Prosecutor's Office in Kraków-Krowodrza, and later transferred to the District Prosecutor's Office in Piotrków Trybunalski.

As Ms. Joanna's attorney, Kamila Ferenc, explains in an interview with tvn24.pl, this is a crime and Art. 231 of the Penal Code, which concerns abuse of powers by an officer.

Last fall, shortly after the elections in which KO and Third Way took power, PSL and Left, the prosecutor's office in Piotrków Trybunalski refused to initiate proceedings in this case. The attorney filed a complaint against the prosecutor's decision. In March this year, the court decided to uphold the contested decision, i.e. it sided with the prosecutor's office, justifying its decision – as attorney Ferenc comments, “in a scandalous way.”

See the Facts material: Mrs. Joanna took an abortion pill. The police came to the hospital and took her laptop and phone

– The court used the argument that Mrs. Joanna was attractive and wanted to make a career. She posted her naked or unclad photos on Instagram, so she shouldn't feel offended that someone wanted to search her naked, attorney Kamila Ferenc told us.

She adds that on August 30, she and Mrs. Joanna received a letter from the District Prosecutor's Office in Piotrków Trybunalski about the decision to resume these proceedings and to initiate an investigation into the abuse of powers by police officers.

– I believe this is a political movement. Previously, Mrs. Joanna's case was swept under the carpet, because the official version was that the police were right, nothing bad happened, and in fact the police behaved exemplarily and nobly. Well, now there is a change in political mood. There is a feeling that citizens want to settle the score on abortion, they want progressive law. At the same time, the Sejm is not able to adopt such a law, so things are being done, for example, giving the public the feeling that something is going their way, trying, for example, to punish the policemen in Mrs. Joanna's case – said the lawyer in an interview with tvn24.pl . Kamila Ferenc.

– Mrs. Joanna was stigmatized because she had an abortion. Therefore, I believe that the decision to initiate a previously discontinued investigation is political, she added.

Read also: Sejm against the amendment regarding the decriminalization of abortion assistance. The left will submit the project again

The second aspect of the case concerns the compensation Ms. Joanna demands from the State Treasury. The trial in this case started at the beginning of July before the District Court in Kraków. The woman demands compensation from the police for what she considers to be an unfair detention. He feels like a victim of the policemen's actions.

Mrs. Joanna was taken to a hospital in Krakow in July 2023, escorted by uniformed officers. She had previously called her psychiatrist and informed her that she was concerned about her poor mental state.

Read also: What next with projects on abortion? “We can be like one fist”

Mrs. Joanna's attorney, attorney Kamila Ferenc, clarified that it was about conducting a search in the hospital, seizing her personal belongings and limiting her mobility, which affected her client's dignity, intimacy and sense of security.

At the first hearing, the representative of the commander of the municipal police in Krakow, legal adviser Przemysław Jeziorek, requested that this application be dismissed because – in his opinion – Mrs. Joanna was not detained and there are no grounds to award compensation. He also noted that “as a result of the explanatory activities carried out by the Provincial Police Headquarters in Krakow, no abuse of powers, irregularities or illegal activities were found.”

Some The Patients' Rights Ombudsman found the officers' actions unacceptable.

Mec. Kamila Ferenc argued that a formal application was not needed to recognize that such a detention had taken place and that her client's mobility had been restricted.

– A year has passed, but I haven't lost my determination. I am here to express my opposition (…). I still have a strong belief that police violence and impunity must be opposed and it is best to do it loudly and with your head held high, commented Mrs. Joanna in an interview with TVN24.

Attorney Kamila Ferenc in an interview with TVN24 emphasized that Mrs. Joanna “was stripped of her dignity and intimacy only because in Poland there is stigmatization of abortion, which is combined with the criminalization of abortion assistance.” – If abortion assistance is de facto a crime, then everything about it causes the police to treat those involved as potential perpetrators (…). We are dealing with a kind of anti-abortion obsession that started just a year ago. To find the source, the reason, some pills related to the termination of pregnancy – said attorney Ferenc.

Mrs. Joanna's case came to light thanks to Renata Kijowska's material in “Fakty” TVN.

The woman came to the emergency room after taking an abortion pill. The doctor notified the police, and the ambulance was “escorted” to the hospital by a police car. Then the police were to participate in the examination and conduct activities with the woman in the office. In the hospital, policemen surrounded Mrs. Joanna with a cordon, and policewomen accompanied her to the gynecology office. On the officers' orders, Mrs. Joanna was to undress, squat and cough.

The then police commander stated that the main reason for the police action was a report of a suspected suicide attempt.

SEE THE MATERIAL OF “FACTS” TVN: Mrs. Joanna took an abortion pill. The police came to the hospital and took her laptop and phone

Let us remind you: according to the Patient Ombudsman Bartłomiej Chamielec, in Mrs. Joanna's case there was a violation of the patient's rights by the Krakow Emergency Medical Service and a violation of confidentiality of information by the psychiatrist who notified the police.

Internal proceedings regarding intervention against Mrs. Joanna was also carried out at the Provincial Police Headquarters in Kraków. It was intended to assess whether the police officers had not gone beyond professional ethics and broken the rules that prevail in the formation. The proceedings revealed that no such thing had happened, so no disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the police officers involved in the intervention.