Just when everyone thought that Donald Tusk’s government would not manage to embarrass itself any further during the holiday season than it already had with the Belarusian balloons affair, Katarzyna Augustynek, a rather pro-government “activist,” set off quite a bomb. So much so that fundamental questions are now emerging online…
Żurek’s Meeting with “Activists”
But – from the beginning… In November, a “consultative meeting” was held at the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. It was attended by the Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, and representatives of so-called “civic organizations.” These were supposedly meant to present their demands regarding the functioning of the justice system.
Among the participants in the meeting with Żurek were, among others, Mateusz Kijowski, former leader of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD), Bartosz Kramek, Stanisława Skłodowska from the Flying Opposition Brigade (LBO), as well as activist-provocateur Katarzyna Augustynek. There was also no shortage of the exceptionally “apolitical” prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek. At the time, the Niezalezna.pl portal revealed that the meeting was to focus on lawsuits against activists for “criticism, experiences related to protests, accounts of violence by the police, ‘restoring the rule of law,’ and reform of the justice system.”
Does Augustynek’s Post Target Żurek?
However – although the topic of the meeting died down in the public space, Katarzyna Augustynek decided to “reheat the cutlet,” casting an entirely new light on the matter. She published a post on social media in which she… openly complains about the head of the Ministry of Justice, Waldemar Żurek.
“This post is no longer self-therapeutic, because that doesn’t work, but since my posts have minimal reach, I will treat them as an accounting diary – maybe that will make me feel better. Usually before Christmas I review my current calendar and enter important things into a new one, which I really enjoy. I thus came across a recent event that took place on November 24 at the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, namely a meeting with PG/MS Waldemar Żurek,” we read in the introduction.
Later, the provocateur writes that “about 20 people participated – representatives of opposition organizations such as the Nationwide Women’s Strike, Abortion Without Borders, Citizens of the Republic of Poland, the Flying Opposition Brigade, Free Prosecution, the Open Dialogue Foundation, I was probably the only unaffiliated person, there were also the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and Amnesty International, Ms. Ewa Wrzosek and Ms. Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram.”
It gets more interesting later on. Augustynek writes that “she was mistaken in thinking that we would learn the minister’s strategy regarding our numerous cases, including those criminal cases that are still pending – an intention he himself confirmed at the beginning.”
“However, the time was spent mainly on presenting individual grievances and problems. I, of course, had no opportunity to speak, besides, that was not why I came there. I wanted to hear what these wise and powerful people wanted to do with our court cases. And I found out nothing. The only thing that stuck in my memory were the minister’s closing words that people from the list – I assume from the list of invited street agitators – would be called. Today, four weeks have passed and no one has contacted me. How long can it take to make calls to 20-30 people? Time passes relentlessly, and I am losing and paying, paying, paying…, but I am no longer crying, I have nothing left to cry with. Today I am making a transfer of 1,180 PLN (not 1,200 PLN, because the court generously valued my detention at 20 PLN) right before the holidays, thank you from the bottom of my smiling heart. Another big disappointment. I will no longer be taken in by the smooth words of those in power – a few times is enough. I wish the minister, prosecutors, and judges such beautiful holidays as mine,” she continued her tirade.
And this is where one fundamental question arises – who was supposed to call Augustynek after the meeting with Żurek? Users of the X platform have drawn attention to this point.