The demonstrators were bursting with genuine happiness. On the evening of January 23, the wives of Maciej Wąsik and Mariusz Kamiński welcomed them, among the snowdrifts in front of the prison in Przytuły Stare and on the asphalt square in front of the detention center in Radom, and the released crowds happily chanted their names.
Because it was a concrete victory, the biggest yet in stopping Donald Tusk’s murderous coup. The participation of demonstrators was crucial – the onset of authoritarianism often arises in silence and social apathy, and the demonstrators in Przytuły Stare and Radom cannot be accused of lethargy.
Two prisons
Przytuły is located 150 kilometers northeast of Warsaw, in a remote area, with difficult access, and the bitter frost did not help with the daily demonstrations. And yet every evening at 6 p.m., several dozen people stood with flags on the east side of the building to shout messages of support for Maciej Wąsik, sing the national anthem for him and a number of anti-communist songs. People were freezing, but they didn’t let go – for eleven days. Some came from nearby Ostrołęka, Różan 40 km away, Łomża 30 km away or Białystok and Warsaw more than 100 km away. In Radom, due to easier access, there were several times more people (one man came from Tarnów, 200 km away), on the last day of Kamiński’s detention there were several hundred people there, patriotic songs were played in the background and On the images with supporting content were shown on the wall of the detention center – in short: the Poles did not give up. Above all, the memory of the great demonstration of January 11, when more than a hundred thousand patriots in the capital showed their resistance to the lawlessness of the government of Donald Tusk.
These are different Poles
The regime is still sharpening its cudgels, but knows this will not be easy. We were not intimidated, lulled or ridiculed. We are no longer angry Poles who can have the cross removed from the front of the presidential palace with impunity or who hear the Russian version of the Smolensk tragedy. Eight years of dignified law and justice, which shows that our country can quickly develop its economy and foster international ambitions, has permanently raised a long list of expectations in us. Even opponents of the United Right want to build a central communications port or nuclear power plants, and PiS supporters launched an angry protest against the one who called Jarosław Kaczyński a “German agent” from the parliamentary podium. No possumus.
Patriotism protests
But it was not just the turnout at some protests and the determination and zeal at others that showed the strength of the independence camp. First of all, we are united by a deep sense of national interest – Polish, but also, for example, German, which so often contradicts our reason for statehood. After all, while holding political prisoners, German and EU officials praised the current Polish government for “restoring the rule of law.” German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said during the illegal and violent takeover of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office building by Adam Bodnar and during the detention of political prisoners that
Germany is impressed by Poland’s return to the center of Europe and its willingness to strengthen the rule of law. We want to resume close cooperation with the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar.
– the German ambassador in Warsaw, Viktor Elbling, boasted about the German official’s statement. Earlier, Bodnar officially expressed his joy that EU Commissioner Didier Reynders praised him for restoring the ‘rule of law’. However, there are Poles who are unmoved by German praise or criticism from PiS politicians who convince them that it is fair to put them in prison.
On television in Poland, Mariusz Kamiński said: “our quick release is the first success of the people who protested.” This moment is especially worth mentioning. The plan was as follows: Sienkiewicz’s bullies would force journalists into neoTVP, then Bodnar would illegally fire prosecutors so they could not seek justice, and the imprisonment of parliamentarians would intimidate Tusk’s enemies. The first was partially successful – the registration court did not recognize TVP’s pseudo-authorities, the second is still ongoing – the legal national prosecutor, Dariusz Barski, opposes the wrongful dismissal of Bodnar. And the third was stopped: President Andrzej Duda managed to release politicians who fought corruption, and people in prison ensured that the Justice Minister complied with procedures. Donald Tusk could only comment on the March of the Free Poles on January 11 with trembling hands – the number of participants was very spectacular.
Ladies and gentlemen, resistance makes sense.
“Liberum protest”
About every hundred years, a group of intellectuals appears in Poland and ridicules Polish freedom (“liberum”). Freedom to stop tyranny (the ‘Liberum veto’ still has bad PR), freedom to conspire against the invaders (the Stanislaus ridiculed it as ‘Liberum conspiro’), and today the right to protest will be judged on the basis of honor and faith (“Liberum protesto”) – and that it is fanatical, sad, hateful, unnecessary, too few people, too old, too loud. But if someone is bothered by a certain Polish freedom, a Polish ‘liberum’, it means that it also makes sense.
So Poland? Do we have the will to defend our independence or do we let the country go because “it will work out one way or another”?
Source: wPolityce