Today, the trial of Mrs. Joanna from Krakow on police intervention began at the Krakow District Court. The woman is demanding compensation of PLN 100,000. PLN for the detention, which he claims was unfair. The case of a woman who was admitted to one of the hospitals in Krakow after a doctor called her and informed her of a mental crisis after Mrs. Joanna took an abortion pill was widely commented on in the media last year and politically used by the then opposition and left-wing circles to attack the then ruling United Right.
According to the patient’s account, the officers surrounded her with a cordon in the hospital and the policewomen entered the gynecology office with her. The services explained that the main motive for their actions was the suspicion of a suicide attempt. According to the police, there was also a possibility of committing a criminal offense, namely, providing assistance with abortion with money obtained from illegal sources.
At the District Court, Ms. Joanna is demanding PLN 100,000. According to her, PLN compensation for unfair detention. Her representative, lawyer Kamila Ferenc, clarified that it was a search of the hospital, confiscation of her personal belongings and restriction of her mobility, which affected her client’s dignity, intimacy and sense of security.
READ ALSO: OUR NEWS. Mrs. Joanna had 1.5 per mille alcohol in her blood when she went to the hospital. Such a concentration could distort the sense of reality
Authorized representative of the police commander: There is no abuse of power
During Tuesday’s hearing, the representative of the Kraków Municipal Police Commander, Legal Adviser Przemysław Jeziorek, requested that this application be rejected, since – in his opinion – Ms Joanna was not detained and there were no grounds for awarding compensation. He also noted that “as a result of the explanatory activities of the Kraków Provincial Police Headquarters, no abuse of powers, irregularities or illegal activities were found.”
Lawyer Kamila Ferenc argued that no formal request was needed to acknowledge that such detention had taken place and that her client’s mobility had been restricted.
Yes, no decision was made to detain Ms Joanna – no one handcuffed her and took her to the police station.
— she referred to the police lawyer’s request after she left the courtroom. Kamila Ferenc.
At the same time, she stressed that it was sufficient that “there was a police cordon around Mrs. Joanna” and that the officers accompanied her all the time.
Everything that happened in Mrs. Joanna’s apartment indicated that the police were not needed there
– the lawyer noted.
In her view, medical attention would have been sufficient in that situation because “there was no serious threat to her health or life, and certainly not related to the termination of the pregnancy”, which Ms Joanna said she had done twice weeks earlier.
The court has postponed the hearing until October 1st due to the extensive response of the police representative. A video of the police activities in the hospital will then be played and the questioning of Mrs. Joanna is also scheduled.
Abortion pill from the internet
At the end of July last year, TVN “Fakty” published material about the actions of police officers in one of the Krakow hospitals against a woman who was admitted to the local emergency room after taking an abortion pill; as she assured, she bought it herself on the Internet. The material showed that the police officers surrounded Mrs. Joanna with a cordon in the hospital, and the policewomen entered the gynecology office with her. The officers searched her personal belongings and confiscated her phone and laptop.
The police headquarters reported that “the police intervention took place after a psychiatrist informed the services about a possible suicide attempt by his patient and the intake of substances of unknown origin.” According to the police, there was a suspicion of committing a crime in the form of helping a pregnant woman to terminate her pregnancy with substances obtained from illegal sources. Subsequently, the then chief of police, General Insp. Jarosław Szymczyk, expressed his regret about the difficult life situation in which Ms. Joanna found herself, but stressed that this situation was not the fault of the police.
READ ALSO:
-Police releases recordings of the intervention in Krakow! General Szymczyk: We took immediate action to prevent suicide
-Ms. Joanna in another interview. “I didn’t have suicidal thoughts”; “I want the police to be punished.” But what’s wrong with this story?
How Ms Joanna Would Become ‘Political Gold’
The opposition at the time tried to use Mrs. Joanna’s situation to attack the then ruling United Right. The woman appeared frequently in the media. She was also a “guest of honor” at one of the meetings of the parliamentary group for women’s rights, and her behavior and statements at this event even shocked the MPs who invited Mrs. Joanna.
And I haven’t told you yet that when I was taking this pill, I had this pad and on that pad, when it was all over, there was… I don’t know, it looked like jelly. A small one. Between friends, I call her jelly, for example. Well, there was such a jelly. My jelly…
– this is what she said about a child who was “aborted” using an abortion pill purchased online.
I am Mrs. Joanna, director of the museum, sister, lover… I think I am quite good. A daughter, a gay, a crazy, poor mentally ill girl. And I will be a mother if I want to
– she told about herself.
She also appeared at a demonstration in front of the Krakow police headquarters. At the event, chants of “One, two, three, f… dogs” were heard. There were also attempts to blame the psychiatrist to whom the woman went in a mental crisis for Mrs. Joanna’s situation.
The then leader of the opposition and current Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the Million Hearts March on October 1, 2023, and one of the reasons was also the story of Mrs. Joanna from Kraków. When her behavior and statements no longer suited the opposition politically, she was eventually not even invited to the march, which she complained about in the media and which the left (including MP Anna Maria Żukowska) later criticized the Civic Coalition about.
READ ALSO:
-Tusk and PO forgot Joanna from Krakow? Żukowska bluntly: “She was left on the sidelines.” Leszczyna’s absurd translations
-This is interesting! Missed Joanna during the Tusk march? Lubnauer can’t explain it, but he criticizes the left: they wanted to feed on its drama
-They are organizing a march because of her! How did Tusk and KO treat Joanna from Krakow? “In the end, no one invited her to the demonstration.”
-What did Mrs. Joanna do in the Sejm? A shocking statement. “There was this jelly…. There was such a jelly there. My jelly…
yes/PAP
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.