Zieliński to Nowak: You’re a brute

“You’re a brute” – Jerzy Zieliński (the city secretary) sent a text message with this content to Bogusław Bogdan Nowak (a city councillor) on the evening of April 10, the day of the Smolensk disaster. That day, a wedding reception was being held at Nowak’s restaurant. The restaurant was closed to other customers, and Nowak himself was not on the premises. “I feel offended. This is incredible arrogance on the part of an official,” says Bogusław Nowak.

Below, we present a record of today’s City Council discussion:

Bogusław Nowak: Mr. Mayor, I would like to ask you to explain a very unpleasant situation involving one of the senior officials of the Bolesławiec City Hall, Mr. Jerzy Zieliński. This situation occurred on April 10, 2010, when I received a very vulgar and insulting SMS on my mobile phone, signed Jerzy Zieliński. I will not quote it here...

Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk: Please do not quote it.

Bogusław Nowak: I am addressing this question to you because I have the impression that this SMS was not private in nature, but that it forms part of an atmosphere that has for some time been one of persecution directed against an opposition councillor and the operation of his business. In my opinion, this atmosphere clearly has political roots, and this SMS is also an expression of that. Before I take any further possible legal steps, I ask you to investigate the matter and draw all possible consequences from this exceptional act of thoughtlessness and insolence on the part of the city secretary.

Piotr Roman: Briefly. I will say this: I asked the secretary, councillor Jerzy Zieliński, whether this had happened, and I was informed that it had. However, the matter is private; you have known each other for years and are neighbours. It happened on the evening of April 10, the day of the disaster. This incident had no connection with the performance of the city secretary’s official duties, and therefore I will not deal with the matter.

Jerzy Zieliński explains in a conversation with the IstotneInformacje.pl portal and newspaper that it was a private SMS, from one neighbour to another. “I returned late in the evening from Mass and sent the message at 10:55 p.m. It was outside my working hours. This is a matter between neighbours. If my neighbour considers himself insulted, he can take the matter to court. It has nothing to do with my serving as secretary,” says Jerzy Zieliński.

“I have no private contact with him. I do not remember when I last spoke to him on the phone or exchanged SMS messages with him,” replies Bogusław Nowak.

The SMS was sent from a mobile phone that the secretary, as he himself states, uses for both official and private purposes.

(editorial information ii)