Supporters of Law and Justice met with former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Legnica on Saturday, February 3. The PiS politician delivered a speech and then answered questions from the audience. One of the issues raised concerned a resident of Ruszów and a paedophile priest who was legally sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing underage girls.
Urszula Mesjasz complained that she had been sent for psychiatric examinations. The woman runs a Facebook profile defending the priest and accuses the court in Zgorzelec of lying.
“For four years I have been proving that the court in Zgorzelec lies through its teeth. (...) I also go to court with those who accuse the priest. He is accused by a local criminal and the daughter of a school cleaner. And already at the first hearing, because I run a Facebook page defending the priest, I was referred for psychiatric examinations. (...) I have a request for you, because I have already appealed to every possible authority, including the president’s office, which did not respond to our letter signed by 100 people. Who will help me in this country?” Urszula Mesjasz said to former Prime Minister Morawiecki.
“Madam, this is an example of how Polish courts unfortunately function. (...) One hand washes the other. They will always support one another. (...) I can take over your case and ask the members of parliament from this county to look into it again, examine it, and knock on the doors of the Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ministry of Justice. This is all I can promise you at this stage,” replied Mateusz Morawiecki, although during his speech someone in the room shouted that it concerned the case of a paedophile priest.
The complete audio and written record of Urszula Mesjasz and Mateusz Morawiecki’s statements is below.
Urszula Mesjasz: “My name is Urszula Mesjasz, and I came from Ruszów. I have several documents in front of me: one from the Ministry of Justice, another from the District Court in Jelenia Góra, a third from the court in Zgorzelec and a fourth from the court in Wrocław. For four years, that is, since May 2019, I have been the subject of a campaign of harassment by the police, the prosecutor’s office and the court in Zgorzelec County. Simply because I stood up in defence of the priest, Fr. Piotr M., who was slandered and arrested at the same time as—well, rather, slandered at the same time as—Henryk Gulbinowicz. Here I have my 17-page motion to lift the immunity of four judges. The motion was submitted to the court in Wrocław in October. It was sent to Jelenia Góra. Judge Klin. I called beforehand, in January. He still has not examined it. I was at the National Prosecutor’s Office; I have letters from the Ministry of Justice and letters from the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. I was the subject of a campaign of harassment, my windows were smashed, and various strange things happened around me. Four years of correspondence. I am a teacher with two university degrees, of course without a job, because I have been blacklisted in this area, and this month—more recently—I have here the dates January 24 and January 9. First I received a decision from the court in Jelenia Góra stating that my motion concerning a pardon for the convicted Piotr M. was deemed unsuitable for consideration by that court and was sent to the court in Zgorzelec. How can I have been proving for four years that the court in Zgorzelec lies through its teeth? And now I am afraid, because I received this, since I also go to court with those who accuse the priest. He is accused by a local criminal and the daughter of a school cleaner. And already at the first hearing, because I run a Facebook page defending the priest, I was referred for psychiatric examinations. And here, dated January 24, Judge Łukasz Hartmann—the same judge who sentenced the priest—informs me that, of course, I should appear for those psychiatric examinations. And now I have a request for you, because I have already appealed to every possible authority, including the president’s office, which did not respond to our letter signed by 100 people. Who will help me in this country? The Commissioner for Human Rights was involved, as were all the ministers and members of parliament. I have run out of ideas, while I have very large stacks of documents.”
Mateusz Morawiecki: “Madam (he is a paedophile—voice from the room), this is an example of how (he is a paedophile—again, a voice from the room) Polish courts unfortunately function. That is why, for eight years, we tried to change these courts substantially. There was a very strong counter-response from the circles of the Third Republic, as we might call them. We tried to deeply change the way the courts operate, above all so that they would care about justice, law and justice, truth, law and justice. I must say that unfortunately this succeeded only partially. To put it mildly. And I have heard of many situations like the one you described, in which judges have their own policies, approach matters through immunities and feel absolutely unaccountable. One hand washes the other. They will always support one another. There is even a saying that no one should be a judge in their own case, yet it often happens that this is effectively how it looks. So I can take over your case and ask the members of parliament from this county to look into it again, examine it, and knock on the doors of the Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ministry of Justice. This is all I can promise you at this stage.”