Is there really no difference between publishing naked photos of yourself on the Internet and exposing yourself on the orders of the police? The famous case of Mrs. Joanna from Krakow is coming back. After a medical abortion, not only doctors but also the police dealt with her. The court did not see the problem, so the patient brings the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
He goes to Strasbourg to demand justice. So that what she suffered from the police in the Krakow Emergency Room a year and a half ago could be called an abuse of powers. The prosecutor's office initially did not want to conduct an investigation into this case, and the Krakow court agreed with the prosecutor's office. – I'm already very depressed, I'm tired and I didn't believe it for a long time – admits Mrs. Joanna.
– This is a scandalous justification and once again we are dealing with shifting the blame onto the injured party, the victim – this is how Kamila Ferenc, lawyer and representative of Mrs. Joanna, comments on the justification for the court's decision.
Court: Mrs. Joanna presents herself as a victim because she wants compensation
Over a year ago, Mrs. Joanna decided to reveal what happened to her. When she asked the doctor for help because she felt mentally ill and confessed that she had performed an abortion on herself, the police were called. At one point, she was surrounded by seven officers.
– The police searched the apartment in her absence, without her knowledge or consent, and her laptop and cell phone were taken away. They were even forced to hand over the cell phone in an attempt to inspect the nooks and crannies of Mrs. Joanna's body, i.e. simply to search the vagina and anus – says Kamila Ferenc. – They told me to undress, do squats and cough – said Mrs. Joanna in July 2023.
In the justification for the refusal to initiate proceedings, the court stated that Mrs. Joanna presented herself as a victim because she wanted compensation, that her testimony should be treated with great caution, because she undergoes long-term psychiatric treatment, but also because of the interviews for TVN and the Gazeta.pl portal. .
– Yes, I talk about it openly, I have been treated for anxiety for many years. I have episodes of depression, but I don't think that makes me crazy. I don't think this deprives me of credibility in any way – comments Mrs. Joanna.
– The fact that someone undergoes psychiatric treatment does not mean that he is unreliable. This is actually a factual presumption, inadmissible in a criminal trial – says Professor Piotr Kruszyński, a criminalist from the University of Warsaw.
The trial regarding Mrs. Joanna from Krakow has started. “I haven't lost my determination”TVN24
Mrs. Joanna: it's a kind of secondary victimization
The judge is surprised that Mrs. Joanna accuses police abuse when she was ordered to undress in front of two officers because she published nude photos on Instagram. “She wanted to be known in the media,” the judge sums up.
– There is a huge difference whether I show photos voluntarily, on my own terms, or whether I am forced to undress by the police – notes Ms. Joanna.
The court did not take into account the opinion of the Ombudsman for Patients' Rights, who found that the patient's rights had been violated.
– There was neither the patient's consent nor the need for the police to be present when providing health services, it was inappropriate and inadequate at that moment – says Urszula Rygowska-Nastulak from the Office of the Patient Ombudsman.
Mrs. Joanna complained about the Polish court to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office decided to investigate.
– The prosecutor's office conducts intensive and dynamic investigative activities aimed at supplementing and explaining all the circumstances of this case – says Krzysztof Wiernicki from the District Prosecutor's Office in Piotrków Trybunalski.
– The final judgment of the court will restore such a symbolic sense of justice to me – says Mrs. Joanna.
Main photo source: TVN24