Regimes often collapse not because of their most serious crimes, but because their officials come to be seen by citizens as figures of ridicule due to their unimaginable stupidity. Poland’s current government is making a mockery of itself in full public view by solemnly prosecuting citizens for the ironic slogan “Nie bać Tuska!”, literally, “Don’t fear Tusk!” Will grotesque repression and absurd court rulings lead to the government’s rapid downfall? Piotr Lisiewicz addresses this question in the latest issue of the weekly Gazeta Polska.
The slogan, coined shortly after the new coalition came to power, was intended as a clever parody of the profanities used by political opponents. However, it soon became a pretext for bizarre actions by the state. Krzysztof Jurgowian was sentenced to 20 hours of community service for shouting “Nie bać Tuska!” Meanwhile, Tadeusz Łopata, the former mayor of the Lanckorona municipality, was charged with insulting a constitutional authority after displaying the same slogan on a billboard. Police officers and firefighters were dispatched to remove his banner. As the former local official explained:
“This government’s agenda is to destroy people like me, a former village head, a former mayor, and a right-winger, because we are fighting to preserve Polish identity.”
Piotr Lisiewicz mercilessly exposes the double standards involved. Lawyers have previously defended the vulgar slogan “F*** PiS” by arguing that its use was “appropriate” in the circumstances.
By contrast, a judge convicted Jurgowian over an ironic slogan in a truly Kafkaesque trial, in complete defiance of logic. The ruling prompted a wave of solidarity. Professor Stefan Zawadzki, a distinguished scholar, wrote the slogan in cuneiform and commented on television:
“This is an absurd situation. Mr Jurgowian was convicted for something he did not say.”
These bizarre acts of repression affect anyone who falls foul of the authorities, regardless of their political views. Robert Bąkiewicz has been banned from approaching the border, while prosecutors have opened more than 30 investigations against him. Left-wing activist Patryk Szynkowski, meanwhile, was absurdly charged with facilitating the throwing of a cake at the mayor of Poznań.
Szynkowski described his detention as follows:
“They treated us like animals. They took blood samples to check whether we were drug addicts. It was an absolute farce, they wanted to portray us as criminals and drug addicts…”
The government continues to pursue methods that provoke pity and ridicule. As Waldemar Fydrych, the legendary founder of the Orange Alternative movement, observes, such oppression has the opposite of its intended effect:
“Turning the courtroom into a circus is supposed to intimidate Robert Bąkiewicz, who has become a folk hero. In reality, however, it merely exposes the narrow-minded, petty-bourgeois mentality of those organising this idiotic campaign against him.”
Will ridicule bring down this government faster than its political mistakes? The downward slide has already begun.