Three LGBT activists have been found guilty by a Warsaw court of attacking a group of pro-life campaigners and trashing their campaign van.
The attack occurred in June 2020 when a group of LGBT activists stopped a Pro-Right to Life Foundation van, damaged it, and attacked the occupants.
The court in Warsaw found all three activists charged to be guilty, sentencing the most well-known of them, Michał Sz., a man who insists on being called by the woman’s name “Margot,” to one year’s probationary community service.
The other two activists received sentences of 11 months and 6 months of probationary community service. The community service will involve 30 hours of unpaid work per month.
In addition to the community service, “Margot” and one of his colleagues will have to take action to repair the damage they caused to the van, pay €1,500 to the foundation whose property was attacked, and also pay €1,000 and €600 in damages to two of the pro-life activists who were attacked.
When summing up, Judge Aleksandra Smyk said that the evidence confirming the charges was well documented and that there was little doubt about which laws had been broken.
The judge ruled that everyone has a right to their point of view and to object to the views of others within the framework set by law. If someone decides to break these laws, they have to be prepared to face the legal consequences. She added there was no evidence that the accused had acted in self-defense or in the public interest.
However, she added that to sentence them to prison terms, as was demanded by the prosecution, would be too harsh a punishment.
