Thousands of protesters took to the streets. Deputy Minister: "Communists, agents of the SB, traitors"





"Is there no limit to hypocrisy and mockery? Down with the scoundrels," Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration, Jarosław Zieliński, wrote on Twitter. This was his assessment of Thursday's protests in the streets of many cities against the act on the Supreme Court, drafted by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and passed by parliament. Minister of the Interior and Administration, Mariusz Błaszczak, also commented on the demonstrations, saying that he "noticed many strollers among the protesters."

"Communists, agents of the SB, traitors are now singing «Wyrwij murom zęby...» [«Rip the bars from the walls …» unofficial anthem of Solidarity – ed.] Is there no limit to hypocrisy and mockery? Down with the scoundrels," Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration, Jarosław Zieliński, wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening, referring to demonstrations against the act on the Supreme Court.

"Many strollers" among the protesters

On Friday, in an interview for TVP1, Minister of the Interior and Administration, Mariusz Błaszczak, made a comment about Thursday's protests. In his view, the demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace, was "like a picnic". "It is true that the demonstration was bigger, in comparison to the one Sunday, for example, but let us bear in mind that this is summertime, the middle of the holiday season, with many strollers taking advantage of beautiful, warm weather," he said.

"I saw two distinct groups: those who watched the events in the streets with interest, and those who were defending the corrupt system. Those who want things to stay the way they have been, as Agnieszka Holland once put it," added the Minister.

Protests in many cities

Kwaśniewski on Duda: the Minister of Justice got the better of him. Now is the time to show his mettle "President... czytaj dalej » On Thursday in Warsaw, in front of the Sejm, the Presidential Palace, and eventually also in front of the Supreme Court, people protested against changes made by the PiS in the judiciary. Demonstrators demanded that President Andrzej Duda veto the bills on the Supreme Court, the National Council of the Judiciary and common courts.

Opposition politicians – Grzegorz Schetyna, Ryszard Petru, Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz – made speeches on Krakowskie Przedmieście. Adam Strzembosz, the first Supreme Court judge, as well as actresses Dorota Segda and Joanna Szczepkowska, appeared on the stage.

Some of the demonstrators then went to the Sejm. There they listened to a speech made by former anti-communist dissident, Władysław Frasyniuk. A smaller group finally moved to the vicinity of the Supreme Court building. The demonstrators lit candles.

As reported by the police, during the peak of Thursday's demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace, 14,000 people had gathered. The Municipal Office reported as many as 50,000 protesters.

Demonstrations took place in other cities, too, including Szczecin, Kielce, Wrocław, Poznań, Katowice, Gdańsk and Białystok.

The Supreme Court bill

During the night, the Senate's Human Rights, Rule of Law and Petition Committee recommended the adoption of the Act on the Supreme Court without amendments. The Civic Platform (PO) proposed several hundred amendments. The deliberations were held to the accompaniment of loud noises made by protesters in front of the building.

On Thursday afternoon the Sejm passed the act with all the amendments tabled by the Law and Justice party, having rejected over a thousand amendments proposed by the opposition.

Źródło: tvn24.pl/tłumaczenie Intertext.com.pl