— An elderly woman known as “Grandma Kasia” entered the Supreme Court on Friday and began filming the Court’s employees. She also made statements like “we’ll deal with you later.” The Supreme Court has security cameras, everything was recorded. I believe I’ll make use of it — said Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge Małgorzata Manowska, in an evening interview on Telewizja Republika.
The Supreme Court, sitting as the entire Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, ruled that the election of Karol Nawrocki as President of the Republic of Poland was valid. Nearly 55,000 electoral protests were submitted to the Supreme Court — 21 were deemed legitimate, but none affected the overall result of the election.
Judge Manowska commented on the Court’s actions during the interview but later addressed the troubling incidents faced by Supreme Court staff in recent weeks.
— Some people lose control and express their emotions in very aggressive ways. I’ll say this on air without using foul language… — she began.
She referred to the behavior of Katarzyna Augustynek: “For example, an elderly woman known as ‘Grandma Kasia’ entered the court on Friday and began filming Supreme Court employees. She made threats like ‘we’ll deal with you later.’”
She confirmed that cameras inside the Court captured the incident. — I believe I’ll make use of it — she added.
Judge Manowska also described vulgar attacks:
“There have been phone calls to Supreme Court employees — innocent civil servants — and they’ve been met with words like: ‘you PiS wh…’. Just insults.”
— There’s something wrong with a small segment of Polish society that cannot control their emotions. We Poles will eventually come to an understanding. We’ve already lived through many historical turning points. All it takes is for politicians to stop stirring the pot. They are the ones who provoke and fuel these emotions — she continued.
— If I sat down with someone on the other side of the political spectrum and we shared our views, I think we’d agree on 98% of things. But it would have to be a real conversation, not one based on vague generalities — Judge Manowska concluded.