In January, we published on the istotne.pl website a report from a meeting of supporters of Robert Biedroń’s political group, attended by our journalist Grażyna Hanaf, who was visible in the group photograph.
On January 16, at 4:30 a.m., an anonymous post appeared beneath this article:
“Heh! As you can see, there aren’t many dupoje*ców in Bolesławiec... But Grażka is always there!”
Date and time of publication: 2019-01-16 04:32:52
We removed the post as offensive, homophobic and humiliating to our journalist. Several hours after it was removed, another post appeared:
“Ooo... Grażka has only just woken up after a steamy night with dupoje*ców and deleted my comment... It must have been quite something...
Date and time of publication: 2019-01-16 11:26:29
The word “dupoj*ca” was, of course, written without asterisks. We inserted them in this article.
Fearing for her safety, the journalist reported the posts to the police.
– This was shortly after the hate-motivated murder of the mayor of Gdańsk during the WOŚP final, says Grażyna Hanaf. – At the same time, I also began receiving anonymous phone calls suggesting that my number was listed on some dating website. The man calling me wanted to contact me and meet me. It all genuinely frightened me. I thought that because of my political sympathies and the views I express, which are disliked by people who may be religious fundamentalists, I was being targeted by some disturbed person.
Grażyna Hanaf described all these unpleasant incidents to the police. A response to her report did not arrive until June.
– To my complete surprise, the posts insulting me were sent from the phone of the principal of one of the schools. I know him personally, and he once even met with me to discuss our very different worldviews. I would never have expected such behavior from him. We will meet in court and, in my opinion, this is the only way forward, because private conversations with this person produce no results. I regret that such a person is an educator and has an influence on children’s upbringing. It is particularly troubling that, as a Polish-language teacher, he is aware of the words he uses and knows how to choose them in order to hurt, frighten and humiliate another person, the journalist adds.
Adam L. is charged under Article 216, Section 1 of the Criminal Code.
Anyone who insults another person in their presence, or even in their absence but publicly or with the intention that the insult reach that person, is subject to a fine or restriction of liberty.