WARSAW (Reuters) – Several thousand people waving rainbow flags protested on Saturday in central Warsaw demanding the release of an LGBT activist accused of hanging rainbow banners over statues and damaging an anti-abortion cart. .
LGBT supporters protest in Warsaw, Poland 7 August 2020. Adam Stepien / Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS
Crowds shouted “Give us Margot back!” and “Rainbow does not offend you!” outside the Palace of Culture of Warsaw.
The peaceful assembly applauded activists who hung another rainbow flag on a statue in front of the Palace while police filmed the performances and the protest leaders.
On Friday, police arrested 48 people who tried to stop the authorities from Margot, the activist accused of hanging flags on statues of Jesus and others and destroying a van of an anti-abortionist.
“We are here to protest against the fact that these people were detained by the police,” Mateusz Wojtowicz, 24, a payment specialist, told Reuters.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
She is a member of the activist group “Stop Bzdurom”. The group said it hung flags at statues last week as part of a fight for LGBT rights, an issue that was at the heart of public debate in Poland during last month’s presidential election.
The Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, a watchdog for rights, called for the immediate release of the activist.
“Order to detain her for 2 months sends a very cool signal for freedom of speech and LGBT rights in Poland,” tweeted Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic.
The ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party says LGBT rights are part of what it calls an invasive foreign ideology that upholds Polish values and the traditional family.
Forgetting Friday’s protest, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said authorities had to “face or face” even more violent “attacks by activists.
Report by Marcin Goclowski and Alicja Ptak; Edited by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones
.
