The District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw has charged Grzegorz Braun, leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown, with various acts, including publicly insulting a group of people because of their religious affiliation, maliciously interfering with the public performance of a religious act, and publicly insulting an object of religious worship. 

All of these charges are related to the politician’s extinguishing of Hanukkah candles in the Sejm (lower house of parliament) in December 2023, when he also stated, “People like you are a shame; you shouldn’t exist,” referring to Jews.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 14, at which time Braun faces other charges as well, reports Do Rzeczy. These include damaging property and blocking a lecture by Professor Jan Grabowski at the German Historical Institute in May 2023, removing and destroying a Christmas tree at the Krakow Courthouse, and breaking into the National Institute of Cardiology in 2022 and using violence against the institution’s director, Łukasz Szumowski.

The European Parliament has also been involved, as it has received motions from the Prosecutor General to waive his immunity. This pertains to the case when Braun attempted a citizen’s arrest of Gizela Jagielska, a doctor from Oleśnica, who had performed an abortion in the 37th week of pregnancy.

The prosecutor’s office also wants to hold the politician accountable for destroying an exhibition dedicated to the LGBT community and publicly denying the crimes at Auschwitz. The latter issue concerns Braun’s claim that gas chambers were not used at the camp.

The police are also preparing a motion to waive his immunity over his interruption of a memorial service commemorating the victims of the Jedwabne pogrom in July of this year, when he and his supporters showed up with signs accusing Jews of spreading “lies.” He later insulted the rabbi overseeing the ceremony and even attempted to block him from leaving the site.