The court in Wrocław issued a verdict in the case of Władysław Frasyniuk. He is to pay a fine for violating the dignity and good name of the soldiers

On Monday, the District Court for Wrocław-Śródmieście decided that Władysław Frasyniuk With his television statement, he violated the dignity and good name of soldiers on the Polish-Belarusian border during migration crisis. Frasyniuk was accused of using soldiers protecting the state border with the phrases “insulting and humiliating them in public opinion and exposing them to the loss of trust needed to perform service.” It is about the words of “Wataha Dogs” and “Garbage”, which the politician said on TVN24.

Now the former oppositionist from the times of the Polish People's Republic is to pay a fine of PLN 15,000. In the justification, the judge pointed out that the penalty is not to cause a chilling effect, but only to realize that the right to free speech is not absolute.

Judge Piotr Górecki in the oral justification of the judgment emphasized that Frasyniuk had the right to criticize and used it for most of his television statements without violating the law. However, these three words describing the soldiers presented on the TV screen as “garbage” and “pack of dogs” were exceeding the right to criticism and violated the dignity and good name of the soldiers.

– It does not matter whether these soldiers felt affected or offended, because it is not about the subjective assessment of a given man, but the objective meaning of these terms and words. It is obvious to everyone that the terms “garbage” and “pack of dogs” are pejorative, humiliating and violate the dignity of a person, his humanity – said the judge.

The judge explained that the court did not find in the accused statements the grounds for convicting him – as the prosecutor's office wanted – insulting the officer during his official duties (Article 226 of the Penal Code), but Art. 216 parish 2 of the Penal Code talking about a violation of dignity and a good name.

Frasyniuk, after the judgment, assessed that the justification was as beneficial to him, since the court found that the Constitution of the Republic of Poland or the European Card had not been violated human rights And you can speak strongly and critically in public speeches.

– What the court in a nice way spoke about me, in no way translates into what he said at the end, that is, about my fault – Frasyniuk told journalists.

When asked if he would repeat these words in public statements, he replied that yes.

The verdict is not final. Władysław Frasyniuk has already announced that he would appeal.

On August 22, 2021, Frasyniuk spoke about the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border in “Facts after Facts”, where a group of migrants at that time at the time. He used then, referring to the Polish Army soldiers operating in the border areas, including terms such as “dog pack”, “just garbage”.

In August 2022, the court conditionally discontinued the case for a year of trial. Frasyniuk was also to pay three thousand zlotys for the victim aid fund and post -trade assistance.

– What sounded strongly during my trial is the justification of the court, which was very hard, very strong. I hope that when it appears in the written version, it will also reach you. The court said very clearly, very definitely that a citizen has the right to criticize the government. More, the court told very hard that a citizen can use hard, brutal wording, especially when he defends the weaker ones – said Frasyniuk at the time.

Both sides appealed against this decision: the defense wanted to acquit and prosecutor convicts. In the appeal, the court ordered to repeat the trial in the first instance. Both processes took place excluding openness.