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Poland, activists of the “Rainbow Madonna” acquitted

The acquittal of the activists of the “Rainbow Madonna” is confirmed. Yesterday a Polish court has rejected the appeal against the acquittal of Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna, who had been accused of “offending religious sentiments”.

The three activists were indicted for posting posters in the central Polish city of Plock on April 29, 2019, reproducing the picture of the Virgin Mary of Częstochowa with a rainbow halo, symbol of the LGBT + community. The accusation was that of having carried out a profanation. The first to be charged was Elżbieta, on her return to Poland from a trip abroad with Amnesty International. An investigation was launched in May 2019, which in July 2020 led to the indictment of all three women.

The story attracted the attention of human rights organizations around the world, including Ilga-Europe and Amnesty International, who joined together to ask the Polish authorities to allow the three women to exercise their right to “peaceful activism” and “freedom of expression”. In a joint statement, they asked to “amend their legislation and bring it into line with international and regional human rights standards” and “refrain from using it against activists to unduly restrict their right to freedom of expression.”

Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna were charged under theArticle 196 of the Polish Criminal Code, which states that “anyone found guilty of intentionally offending religious sentiments through public slander of an object or place of worship is liable to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to two years”.

But, according to human rights organizations, Article 196 “imposes undue restrictions on the right to freedom of expressionAnd allows the authorities too much room for maneuver to “prosecute and criminalize the people who need to be protected.” And “this is incompatible with Poland’s international and regional human rights obligations”.

An international campaign was also launched to defend the three activists of the “Rainbow Madonna”: “Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna have opposed hatred and discrimination and for years they are fighting for a just and equal PolandAnd “deserve to be praised and not taken to court for their activism.”

Now that the acquittal is confirmed, Catrinel Motoc, Amnesty International campaigner for Europe, remembers that “today’s decision is a great relief but it must not make us forget that the three women should never have been put on trial. Their legal affair, for which more than 250,000 people have mobilized, has become the symbol of the worst anti-human rights orientations in Poland: a country where space for free expression, activism and peaceful protests is growing. shrinking and in which the homophobic climate is worsening, amid increasing hate speech, attempts to ban Pride and proclamations of “zones free of LGBTI people” by local authorities ».

It’s still: “This story has highlighted state homophobia and demonstrated how the Polish judicial system is used to target, intimidate and threaten human rights defenders. The Warsaw authorities must put an end to this witch hunt ”.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

“They wanted to save me, they tortured me.” Among the communities that “cure” gays

Alan Turing, the mathematician who defeated Hitler and was convicted of being gay

“He converted” homosexuals, today he declares: “I’m gay”

Germany, priests against the Vatican: “We bless gay couples”

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