“A Warsaw court has convicted two activists from Last Generation. They were sentenced to 6 months of restricted liberty. The convicted women were ordered to perform community service – 30 hours per month, pay PLN 3,000 each to the National Heritage Fund, PLN 30,000 to the Capital City of Warsaw, and PLN 1,000 in court costs,” informed attorney Bartosz Malewski from the Ordo Iuris Institute.
Activists from Last Generation convicted for damaging a monument
Attorney Bartosz Malewski, representing the Ordo Iuris Institute and the Independence March Association, noted that “the court had no doubts in this case that the defendants were guilty – they were aware of the monument’s historic character. Their views and demands do not justify this act – for many of us this is obvious, but as we can see, today it also had to be confirmed by the justice system”.
“What you are shouts so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” (R. W. Emerson) – I quoted in my closing argument, referring to the defendants’ method of action. And today, in its reasoning, the Court also recalled these words, indicating that the defendants did not achieve their intended goal of raising awareness about alleged climate problems or convincing society of them,” Malewski wrote.
Julia P. and Marianna J., representatives of the Last Generation organization, committed the destruction of the Mermaid statue on General George S. Patton Boulevard in Warsaw on March 8, 2024. The women allegedly poured a large amount of orange paint over the monument, causing damage to the sculpture, the stone pedestal, and the fountain basin. The losses were estimated at PLN 361,607.36.