Controversy in Poland over President Duda's pardon of a far-right activist

BerlinPoland's outgoing President Andrej Duda has pardoned controversial far-right activist Robert Bakiewicz, who was convicted of physically assaulting an activist during a march in support of abortion rights, in a move that has sparked controversy in the country. Duda, whose term ends in August, used his presidential power to partially lift Bakiewicz's sentence for having assaulted Katarzyna Augustynek, a well-known left-wing activist for women's rights and LGBTI+ issues, who is well-known among Poles, in October 2020.

The far-right activist grabbed a rainbow-colored scarf worn by theGrandma Kasia and threw her to the ground. Afterwards, two of her followers dragged the activist down the stairs of a church he was occupying in protest, according to the television channel TVP World, and Bakiewicz ordered her to be expelled, according to statements made by Augustynek herself. The far-right activist was sentenced in March 2023 for the assault to 30 hours of community service per month for a year, to pay compensation of 10,000 zlotys (approximately 2,350 euros) to the victim and to make the verdict public.

Bakiewicz is a controversial figure in Poland. The former leader of the far-right organization National Radical Camp (ONR) was one of the main driving forces behind the annual march celebrating Independence Day organized in Warsaw by the far right and Polish nationalists. He is also the promoter of the so-called Border Defense Movement, a controversial anti-immigrant "citizen patrols" that this summer they watch the border between Poland and Germany. Its objective is to detect and expel illegal immigrants who attempt to enter Poland after having been allegedly expelled by Germany, although they patrol cars Ultras have no legal mandate.

"A political signal"

Duda's decision to pardon Bakiewicz has been criticized by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other members of his government. "The president is ending his term in a bad way," said Adam Szlapka, spokesman for the Polish government. Szlapka called it "outrageous" that the president had pardoned "a man full of hatred, contempt for others and also for state institutions."

"The pardon granted by President Duda to Bakiewicz is not only a human and moral scandal. It also sends a political signal that the entire team, including [President-elect Karol] Nawrocki, [opposition leader Jaroslaw] Kaczyński and [far-right MEP Grzegorz] Braun, will stop at nothing to regain power. It's time for the whole world to know," Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on social media. Duda responded on the same social network: "A moral and human scandal, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, is the anarchy that you have been implementing since [coming to power] on December 13, 2023." The state considered that Poles had shown in Tusk what they think of his policies when they elected Poland's president on June 1 the conservative ultranationalist Karol Nawrocki, whom Duda and the nationalist conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party supported during the election campaign. Nawrocki's victory, as he will succeed Duda on August 6, represents a severe blow to the centrist liberal Tusk and his reformist agenda, as the new president intends to curb it.