A man has been convicted in a Polish court of insulting the office of Prime Minister, held by Donald Tusk.
Krzysztof Jurgowian was found guilty of shouting obscenities about the head of government, despite it being claimed he merely mocked the PM.
He said he shouted a slogan that in English translates as: “We’re not afraid of Tusk” (Nie bać Tuska). Police nearby said they heard the man actually shout: “F*ck Tusk” (jebać Tuska). On the basis of their evidence he was convicted of insulting a public official.
During the previous Conservative (PiS) administration, anti-government demonstrators regularly chanted “f*ck PiS” (Jebać PiS).
Now, under Tusk’s rule, pro-PiS protesters sometimes chant: “We’re not afraid of Tusk, which in Polish rhymes with “Jebać Tuska”. That was a mocking reply to the chants directed at PiS.
The Wrocław city court in its ruling on November 21 accepted the testimony of police officers who had also accused Jurgowian of assault.
Their version of events was not confirmed by either video footage of the incident or statements given by other officers.
The incident took place during floods that hit southwestern Poland in September 2024.
Jurgowian protested at the fact that Tusk’s office had barred journalists from independent broadcaster TV Republika from attending briefings of the crisis management team.
Jurgowian told the broadcaster the reasons for his protest.
“This is the TV channel from which I get information. I wanted to say to the Prime Minister, ‘Donald, you coward, let the media in’ but before I could call him out the police came after me.”
The available footage of the incident shows a group of officers approaching Jurgowian and seizing him by force as the PM’s car was passing by.
As he is being apprehended by police he shouted, “Nie bać Tuska” (“We’re not afraid of Tusk”).
In court, some officers said they were unable to clearly state what had been shouted while others claimed that Jurgowian shouted vulgarities at the PM and had refused to comply with police commands.
According to Jurgowian’s attorney, the written statements of six policemen who claimed they had heard offensive language from him were identical, word for word, including grammar mistakes.
The court accepted them and concluded that Jurgowian had insulted a constitutional body and sentenced him to six months community service.
There have been a number of judgments over the past few years in which anti-PiS demonstrators were ruled to have been innocent of assaults against the police, damaging public property and defaming Polish soldiers and border guards.
Waldemar Żurek, Tusk’s justice minister, on November 24 met a number of “pro-democracy” activists who had campaigned against the PiS government between 2015-2023, some of whom had been convicted of assaults on police officers.
