2020-07-29 19:39 update: 2020-07-30, 11:16
Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta. Fot. PAP/Mateusz Marek
Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta submitted a notice to the Prosector’s Office regarding suspected criminal offences by people who adorned a number of Warsaw monuments with 'rainbow' flags and other symbols on Tuesday night.
Rainbow flags (also known as LGBT pride flags) and handkerchiefs with a symbol referring to the anarchist movement were placed over, among other monuments, the statue of Jesus Christ in front of the Church of the Holy Cross, in the very centre of Warsaw. The police also received reports of events concerning the monuments of Nicolaus Copernicus, Jan Kilinski and the Warsaw Mermaid, but photos posted on the internet showed that there were many more such events.
At Wednesday's press conference, Kaleta said the campaign was carried out by "LGBT militants," and that what they did was an act of "profanation." He noted that the statue of Christ in front of the Church of the Holy Cross was associated with "very dramatic experiences". He pointed out that it was "a monument that was destroyed during the war during the Warsaw Uprising by the Germans, but a monument that returned, as a symbol of the faith and steadfastness of the Polish nation."
In the opinion of Kaleta, "a scandalous thing has happened which must meet with a firm reaction from our nation." "For many months, we have been discussing the issue that LGBT communities represent a certain ideology, which have set patriotic and Christian values as its target. We saw evidence of this aggression through this activity in Warsaw last night," he said.
A manifesto published on the internet says that the campaign was aimed at combating homophobia. "This is a storm. This is a rainbow. It's an attack! We decided to act. (...) This is our manifestation of differences, this rainbow..." says a statement published on social media. (PAP)
