A total of 91 people have signed an appeal addressed to the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman). They are primarily members of the anti-communist opposition from the period of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL). They have called on the Ombudsman to file a cassation appeal or an extraordinary complaint against the final judgment sentencing Adam Borowski to six months in prison for criticizing Roman Giertych.
Information about the final and binding judgment sentencing Adam Borowski to six months’ imprisonment sparked widespread public outrage. Former PRL-era opposition activists came out in Borowski’s defense—figures who today often belong to different political camps. Reservations regarding the form of the penalty were expressed even by Waldemar Żurek himself, who stated that “imprisonment should not be used as a punishment for statements.”
A letter has been submitted to the Commissioner for Human Rights, signed mainly by members of the anti-communist opposition from the PRL period. They appealed for the filing of a cassation appeal or an extraordinary complaint against the final judgment sentencing Adam Borowski to imprisonment for criticizing Roman Giertych.
Below is the full text of the appeal, together with the signatories.
Dear Mr. Commissioner for Human Rights,
We, the undersigned members of the former anti-communist opposition during the PRL era, as well as other individuals who share our position, hereby address you, Mr. Commissioner for Human Rights, with an appeal to file a cassation appeal or an extraordinary complaint against the final judgment issued already at first instance by the District Court for Warsaw-Wola in Warsaw, sentencing Adam Borowski, an anti-communist opposition activist, to six months of imprisonment with conditional suspension, for a statement made several years ago on Telewizja Republika.
The proceedings were initiated on the basis of a private bill of indictment filed by Roman Giertych. The judgment concerns statements by Adam Borowski which, in the court’s view, violated Article 212 §2 of the Criminal Code on defamation—a relic from the PRL era. This provision allows for imprisonment as punishment for an opinion expressed in the media, which should not occur in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, all the more so as the statement did not incite hatred or discrimination.
Adam Borowski had previously been ordered to apologize to Giertych, which he did not do, and he stated that he does not intend to apologize. He did not appeal the court’s ruling because, according to his account, he was not familiar with the contents of the judgment and was not effectively informed by the court. At present, there is a real risk that Adam Borowski may be imprisoned due to the initiation of proceedings to order the execution of the custodial sentence.
In this situation, intervention by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the above-mentioned case is necessary.
Signatories to the appeal:
Zbigniew Ankiersztajn
Zofia Ankiersztajn
Konrad Banecki
dr Czesław Bielecki
dr Teresa Bochwic
Leszek Jacek Boguta
Marek Andrzej Borowik
prof. dr hab. Tadeusz Jan Boruta
dr Juliusz Braun
prof. dr hab. Ewa Brojer
dr Wojciech Brojer
Jan Bryłowski
Adam Bujak
Jolanta Chojecka
Barbara Chruszczyńska
Agata Ciołek
Krzysztof Czabański
Wojcierch Czaplicki
Wiktor Mieczysław Ćwiklik
Andrzej Drzycimski
Lech Dymarski
Pawel Stanislaw Gajowniczek
Krzysztof Gąsior
Zbigniew Gierun-Banaszewski
Jarosław Maciej Goliszewski
Jerzy Marek Gumowski
dr Jarosław Guzy
Kinga Hałacińska
Wacław Holewiński
Grzegorz Iwanicki
Zbigniew Janas
Aleksander Janiszewski
Wiesław Janowski
Wiesław Johann
Maria Kalas
Wiesław Piotr Kęcik
dr Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski
Robert Kostro
Dariusz Kowalczyk
Barbara Kozłowska
Antoni Łepkowski
Maciej Łopiński
Włodzimierz Jerzy Łukowski
dr Grzegorz Majchrzak
Przemysław Tadeusz Miśkiewicz
Andrzej Józef Naklicki
Bernard Nowak
Krzysztof Mariusz Pasiak
Marcin Szczęsny Paszkowski
Edward Pińkowski
Józef Jacek Pińkowski
Andrzej Radzio
Grażyna Anna Raszkowska
Witold Rawski
Marek Rohr-Garzteki
Wiesław Romanowski
Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy
Grzegorz Piotr Rossa
dr hab. Józef Ruszar
Jarosław Rybicki
Zbigniew Władysław Rykowski
Bogumił Sielewicz
Witold Sielewicz
Krzysztof Siemieński
ks. infułat dr Jan Sikorski
dr hab. Irena Anna Słodkowska
Bogusław Sonik
Jan Strękowski
Barbara Sułek-Kowalska
Witold Maksymilian Sypniewski
Krzysztof Szabelski
prof. dr hab. Romuald Szeremietiew
prof. Mirosław Piotr Szumiło
Janusz Ściskalski
Józef Śreniowski
Krzysztof Tołłoczko
Ewa Tomaszewska
Stanisław Wajsgerber
Janusz Walentynowicz
Marek Warecki
Krzysztof Józef Wawrzyniak
Bronisław Wildstein
prof. dr hab. Andrzej Aleksander Włodarczyk
prof. dr hab. Hélène Rosine Włodarczyk
Paweł Woldan
Teresa Wrzesińska
Aleksander Zenon Zając
Wiktor Zajkiewicz
Aleksander Henryk Zblewski
dr Małgorzata Żaryn
prof. dr hab. Jan Żaryn