Poland: three LGBT activists acquitted in a case of "offense" to the Virgin Mary
Polish LGBT rights activists gathered around the court which acquitted three activists accused of insulting the Virgin Mary for having crowned her with a rainbow, in Plock, March 2, 2021. AP - Czarek Sokolowski
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It is a relief for Polish human rights NGOs.
Three activists were acquitted on Tuesday, March 2 by the courts.
They were accused of “offending religious convictions” for having pasted posters of the Virgin in rainbow colors.
A trial in a country where the LGBT community denounces regular attacks against it.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw,
Sarah Bakaloglou
For the court in the city of Plock, the three activists did not want to offend anyone, but simply to draw attention to the discrimination suffered by the LGBT community in the country.
A judgment experienced as a relief and a victory for the three activists involved.
They faced up to two years in prison for “
offending religious beliefs
”.
They explained during the trial that they acted in response to an installation of the town's church, deemed homophobic.
"
This acquittal shows that this trial was nothing more than a tactic of intimidation by the Polish authorities
", reacted the organization Amnesty International.
Authorities accused of using anti-LGBT rhetoric: President Andrjez Duda for example denounced last year an
“
ideology more destructive than communism
”
during the presidential campaign.
"
Zones free of LGBT ideology
"
What worry the Council of Europe which pointed out in December "
the tangible increase of homophobic speech by representatives of the public authorities
", and said itself shocked by the establishment of "
zones free of ideology LGBT
”in dozens of municipalities across the country.
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To read also: Poland: the LGBT community must always fight for its rights
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