On July 26 2016 the court in Łódź punished with a fine the printer, who broke the law (Art. 138 of the Offence Code) by refusing the organization acting for equal treatment of LGBT persons the service of printing. The verdict of the court was challenged by the Minister of Justice and The Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, who published a statement in which he stated as follows: “[Courts] are supposed to guard the rights and freedoms of citizens, including freedom of business activity, and not to impose them any constraint. No ideological arguments justify violation of these fundamental rules”. He also stated that the organization representing LGBT persons has a privileged position.

On behalf of the members of the Open Republic Association against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia we express our firm protest against challenging autonomy of the courts by representative of executive power body, who should be the guard of legality in our country and not a false interpreter of the provisions of law and Constitution of RP.

Open Republic acts for human rights and open society free from any prejudice, respecting dignity and freedoms of all citizens. We protest against authorization (expressed by the Minister of Justice) discrimination because of sexual orientation which is contrary to the Polish Constitutional Act. We protest against the minister of the Polish government calling equality, respect, non-discrimination and tolerance an “ideology”. We refuse consent for discrimination of anyone for any reasons. The Polish law does not allow for discrimination which the printer from Łódź committed and nothing justifies such conduct. It is not true, either, that LGBT organizations enjoy a privileged position in Poland. It is quite opposite. The growing number of incidents shows that LGBT persons and organizations which represent them are objects of violence.

The Management Board of the Open Republic Association against anti-Semitism and Xenophobia