The Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint of the Independence March Association regarding the ban on the march on November 11, which was issued by the capital city hall. However, the organizers assure that they are not giving up and it does not affect the event they are planning.
The Association's spokesman, Aleksander Kowaliński, said on Friday that the appeals court dismissed their appeal against the district court's decision. – This does not affect the organization of the Independence March, as the city hall has received other reports on this matter and they are still in play – commented Kowaliński.
On Monday the city hall refused to allow the Independence March Association to organize November 11 gatherings on the route from Dmowski Roundabout to the National Stadium. The Association has been organizing a march on this date and along this route for years. Wednesday afternoon The District Court rejected the appeal of the Independence March Association from the city mayor's decision to ban the march.
They planned marches in the city center, but the city hall did not give permission
On September 28, 2024, the Independence March Association submitted the first notice of the meeting convened on October 28 from November 21 to November 12 at 1.00. “The organizer then submitted another notification, practically identical in content, differing only in the starting date of the planned activity,” the city hall explained.
The program of this meeting included a stationary meeting in the area of Rondo Dmowski and Plac Defilad on October 28 from 21 to November 11 at 14. In subsequent notifications, the start dates have been changed (from November 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, respectively). The next stage of the assembly would be a march on November 11 from 2 p.m. to 1.00 on November 12, 2024, route: Al. Jerozolimskie, Poniatowski Bridge, ul. Wał Miedzeszyński (descent from the bridge via a loop), ul. Wybrzeże Szczecińskie, ul. Siwiec with the ending on the grounds of the National Stadium.
In its refusal, the office noted that the method of submitting notifications by the Independence March Association does not make it possible to determine which of them is in fact true and will be carried out, because in none of the subsequent notifications did the organizer withdraw from the previously submitted notifications.
March of nationalists in the center of Warsaw Tomasz Zieliński, tvnwarszawa.pl
“Negative impact on the functioning of the city”
The city hall also said that all these reports were premature. Despite this, the city hall asked the police, fire brigade, ambulance service and the Municipal Transport Authority to assess the planned gathering.
“The answers provided clearly prove that organizing the meeting in the formula adopted by the organizer (in the first notification it is a total of 16 days, in subsequent notifications this number decreases accordingly) will have a very negative impact on the functioning of the city and activities emergency services and public transport, leading to traffic paralysis in a significant part of Warsaw, which in turn will pose a threat to the health and life of residents,” the city hall said.
Main photo source: Tomasz Zieliński, tvnwarszawa.pl