A well known Tor operator based in the UK claims he has had a European arrest warrant issued against him by the Polish authorities—because his node was used in 2014 to make an anonymous forum post criticising the former mayor of a small town in the country.

A regional public prosecutor's office has written to the home office to ask British police to question Thomas White, the volunteer operator of a Tor node who goes by the name of TheCthulhu. It wants to force him to reveal the identity of a poster named ~Gość~, who allegedly insulted Roman Czepe, one-time mayor of Łapy, a settlement near Bialystok in north-east Poland.

Just been informed that Poland has issued a European Arrest Warrant against me. How fun! — TheCthulhu (@CthulhuSec) July 4, 2016

The letter cites an obscure law in the Polish penal code, which precludes people from attacking public figures in a way which might cause the public to think less of them or lose confidence in their ability to do the job. The crime is punishable by a fine or even jail time.

Seen by Motherboard, the letter reads: “When he read the post, Roman Czepe felt offended by the words used in it. He testified that such a statement clearly humiliated him in the face of public opinion.”

In response, TheCthulhu, who describes himself as a "technology and privacy activist" and a "radical giver of no shits," released a statement in which he scoffs at the Polish authorities, insisting that he won't be complying. He wrote: "As far as I am concerned, the person who made the post is expressing a personal opinion on a public official, somebody to whom Mr Czepe is accountably and answerable as a former democratically elected person and asupposed representative of the people of Poland."

Part of my statement in reply to the Polish authorities requesting my arrest for allegedly insulting a politician. pic.twitter.com/BbFsjnmmLA — TheCthulhu (@CthulhuSec) July 7, 2016

The home office has refused to comment on the situation, as a matter of policy on EU-wide legal requests. At any rate, the Polish demand is likely to be futile; Tor is designed to be anonymous, and node operators have no way of telling the source of the traffic that flows through them. Whether he wanted to or not, TheCthulhu would have a hard time complying with the request.