Shocking verdict of the Poznań court. Judge Joanna Knobel acquitted more than 30 suspects in connection with the protest in the cathedral during Holy Mass after the Constitutional Tribunal ruling. The case concerns the invasion of the cathedral by more than 30 opposition street activists in October 2020. With banners about the right to abortion, they stood in front of the altar in Poznań Cathedral, “to express their opposition to the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal express”. All suspects were acquitted. The court ruled that their actions were not “malicious”!
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The verdict handed down today by the Poznań District Court – Nowe Miasto and Wilda in Poznań is not final.
The trial related to the events of October 2020, when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the provision allowing abortion in case of a high probability of serious and irreversible damage to the fetus or an incurable disease threatening his life is incompatible with the Polish Constitution. After the verdict was announced, demonstrations against the decision of the Tribunal took place in many Polish cities.
Provocation in the cathedral
A few days after the announcement of the Constitutional Tribunal’s verdict, during the celebration of the Eucharist in Poznań Cathedral, a group of about 30 people stood before the altar with banners with content related to the right to abortion; Mass was interrupted. Participants in the meeting went to the altar after reading the gospel. They chanted, “We’ve had enough!” They held banners with slogans: “Catholic women need abortion too”, “Catholic you are not alone” and with anti-clerical content. They threw out flyers and started clapping.
The pastor of the cathedral parish, Fr. Ireneusz Szwarc asked the arrivals to stop disrupting the mass.
You are the wicked one! Barbarians
shouted the rally participants.
After a few minutes, Fr. Szwarc said that because of the prevention of the dignified celebration of the Holy Mass, because of the violation of the sanitary regulations and that there would be no desecration of the Blessed Sacrament, he interrupts the celebration of the Holy Mass. gave the parishioners dispensation and asked the faithful to leave the cathedral.
Indictment and bizarre verdict
After the protest at the cathedral, the prosecutor’s office charged 32 people with “jointly and in concert maliciously obstructing the public performance of a religious act”. This act is punishable by a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment of up to 2 years.
The suspect pleaded not guilty. They didn’t have to, the court was on their side from the start. Interestingly enough, according to Judge Knobel, the disgusting provocation was not of a “malicious” nature.
Judge Joanna Knobel, in the grounds of the verdict, recalled that after the Constitutional Tribunal’s verdict, a wave of protests “spread across the country”. She pointed out that the evidence did not show the “maliciousness” of the protesters who wanted to express their displeasure with the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling.
She added that, however, the defendants protested while maintaining “seriousness and respect” for the place where they were staying, and moreover, they chose the time of the sermon for the duration of the protest. She also pointed out that the slogans on the banners brought by the protesters “did not incite hatred or attack religion in an offensive manner”.
The invalid decision of the Poznań Court is a dangerous precedent. It shows that physical attacks on churches are applauded by judicial activists.
PAP, WB
Source: wPolityce