The Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeals of Kaja Godek and the priest in the “rainbow Mary” case

The prosecutor's office was also supposed to file a cassation appeal in this case, but ultimately the prosecutors decided not to do so. The prosecutor explained during Thursday's hearing that the charges were “on the verge of admissibility.”

This was about the judgment of the District Court in Płock (Masovian Voivodeship), which in January 2022 upheld the acquittal against three defendants accused of insulting religious feelings. The judgment, which was passed almost a year earlier, concerned the placing of stickers with the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa with a rainbow halo around the church in 2019. The court of first instance acquitted Elżbieta P., Anna P. and Joanna G. The verdict was upheld on appeal.

However, the auxiliary prosecutors also filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court to the detriment of the accused: the parish priest of the Płock parish where the stickers were affixed, who had previously also acted as the injured party, and anti-choice activist Kaja Godek. Their attorneys were against withdrawing the prosecutor's cassation appeal.

– A declaration of withdrawal of a cassation appeal is, in principle, binding – explained the chairman of the panel, Judge Dariusz Kala. Especially since – as he emphasized – the court did not find an absolute reason for appeal.

Read also: Prosecutor's Office: Our Lady with a rainbow halo does not offend religious feelings

Cassation filed by the representatives of Fr. Tadeusz Łebkowski questioned the judgment in its entirety due to the gross violation of substantive law and wrong interpretation of the regulations. Specifically, the main point was that garbage cans, poles, transformers and portable toilets, as places where “rainbow Marys” were pasted, offend the object of worship.

– No one will stick the image of a loved one on the toi-toi – said the representative of Fr. Łebkowski. – Neither in the trash bin nor in places where there may be advertisements of escort agencies that insult this image and are degrading.

Kaja Godek's attorney also questioned the judgment in its entirety. According to this cassation, the defendants fulfilled the requirements of Article 196 of the Penal Code regarding insulting religious feelings.

– Both proceedings showed that they acted consciously, with direct intention, boldly – he explained. In his opinion, the courts of both instances gave in to social pressure.

The prosecutor pointed out that the Supreme Court is a “legal court”, it should not deal with material findings, and both the perpetrators' motivations and the pasting of the image are factual findings. She requested that the cassation appeal be dismissed.

– The Penal Code does not penalize blasphemy, it was last mentioned in the 1932 code. And the cassation appeal relies on blasphemy – said the representative of the Campaign against Homophobia, which participated in the proceedings as a social factor.

The defendants' attorneys also believed that the complainants simply did not like the fact that the crime of blasphemy was not penalized in Poland.

– There must be hatred and contempt in the insult, it is not enough to simply show disrespect. Unless one considers that the very existence of LGBT people is hateful to the complainants. Believers must come to terms with the fact that religious symbols are also cultural symbols, said one of them.

The representative of another defendant emphasized that “no one here is even trying to pretend” that this is about anything other than questioning the factual findings. – You cannot insult anyone by giving him a feature valued in our axiological system. This entire process was flawed from the very beginning. Maria in a rainbow halo is beautiful, and the rainbow does not offend, he emphasized.

The activists pointed out that they also posted – actually on trash cans – a list of people responsible for covering up pedophilic acts. And those making cassations avoid this aspect of their protest action.

All those appearing on their side of the court repeated that cassation appeals concern the determination of the facts, which in this case is a disadvantage. This position was also shared by the Supreme Court.

– You cannot use allegations of substantive law against the court of cassation if the court of appeal did not apply substantive law – said Judge Kala.

He added that there were no absolute grounds for an appeal in the case, and the charges in the cassation appeal were made incorrectly. – All cassation appeals and all applications turned out to be groundless – he emphasized.

The appeals were dismissed, and Kaja Godek and Fr. Tadeusz Łebkowski was ordered to pay the costs.

On Thursday, there was a small picket in front of the Supreme Court with the slogan “Rainbow does not offend”. Activists were also in the courtroom.

Immediately after the ruling, Kaja Godek commented that this verdict proves that Catholics in Poland are persecuted. – On Maundy Thursday, Our Lady was crucified in Poland – she said.

The defendants said that they “don't want to give any hints”, but they are ready to defend their beliefs also before European tribunals.