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Anti-semitic party 'legal' says judge

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 13.06.2013 15:52
An obscure political party with vehemently anti-semitic views has crept onto Poland's official party register despite flouting Poland's constitution.
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The so-called Together Party of the Slavonic Empire was registered by a Warsaw District Court in March 2012, after the necessary 1000 citizens' signatures and party statute were provided.

Although the statute does not make explicitly anti-semitic statements, it stresses the paramount importance of “the Pole of true Slavonic blood.”

However, since registration, the party – which like the vast majority of Poland's eighty official parties, has no seat in parliament – has been increasingly forthright in its anti-semitic rhetoric.

“We know who runs Poland,” party leader Jan Kielb told the Rzeczpospolita daily.

“It's run by Jews, and particularly bad Jews,” Kielb added.

“We intend to fight those Jews,” he said.

According to Judge Maja Smoderek, the party has not been erased from the register because no prosecutor has lodged a complaint about the party.

Nevertheless, constitutional expert Professor Piotr Winczorek has noted that “activities of parties that call for racial hatred are not permitted.

“Prosecutors should do something about this,” he added.

Out of a population of 38 million, it is estimated that 20,000 Polish citizens are Jewish. The vast majority of Poland's over 3 million strong pre-war Jewish community died at the hands of the country's Nazi German occupiers, principally in death camps or as a result of mass shootings. (nh/pg)

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