A Polish court has dismissed Ordo Iuris’ appeal in the case concerning Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski calling the organization a “fundamentalist sect.”
In March 2020, as reported by Do Rzeczy, Sikorski posted on social media to criticize Ordo Iuris’ involvement in supporting local governments that adopted resolutions on so-called LGBT-free zones.
The institute’s representatives responded by explaining that they were “only defending the constitutional provisions that families are entitled to.” They emphasized that “in reality, no local government unit has decided to create an LGBT-free zone, and some politicians have only adopted resolutions in which they opposed the promotion of LGBT ideology.”
It was at this time that Sikorski referred to Ordo Iuris as a “fundamentalist sect,” after which, the institute filed a lawsuit against the Civic Coalition (KO) politician. Ordo Iuris demanded an apology and payment of PLN 30,000 (€7,200) in compensation for social purposes.
The non-final judgment in the case was issued in November 2022. According to the District Court in Warsaw, Sikorski did not violate the law and the claim for the protection of personal rights was dismissed. The judges cited freedom of speech in their ruling. Ordo Iuris then filed an appeal against this judgment, which has now been rejected.
“The court dismissed the appeal and legally ruled that I had the right to call Ordo Iuris a ‘fundamentalist sect'” – wrote Radosław Sikorski on the X portal.
The president of the Ordo Iuris Institute, attorney Jerzy Kwaśniewski, commented on the case. “Congratulations. This is not our first dispute and it will not be the last,” the attorney wrote. He also posted Sikorski’s announcement with the comment: “The Institute Ordo Iuris is a sect, Donald Trump is a Russian agent, and Nord Stream was blown up by Americans… Calm down.”
