Published: 16.08.2019
The European Parliament is going to consider the issue of waiving Guy Verhofstadt's immunity in connection with criminal proceedings initiated by Dr. Bawer Aondo-Akaa before the District Court in Warsaw. In the indictment brought by the lawyers of the Ordo Iuris Institute, the Belgian MEP is accused of defamation and insult against the victim. In 2017, the politician described the participants of the Independence March as "fascists", "neo-Nazis" and "white suprematists".
The proceedings have been under way before the District Court for Warsaw-Centre in Warsaw since January 2018. Due to the lack of any activity on the part of the court to hear the case, the Ordo Iuris lawyers, on behalf of Dr. Bawer Aondo-Akaa, filed a complaint against the lengthiness of the proceedings, which was fully accepted by the Regional Court in Warsaw. Nevertheless, in May 2019 the District Court refused to transmit the victim's request for waiver of immunity to Guy Verhofstadt, a Member of the European Parliament, stating that, allegedly, it was beyond its scope of competence and discontinued the case.
This decision was challenged by Ordo Iuris' lawyers, who complained about violation of a number of provisions of the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure and claimed that the prosecutor's right to court was obstructed. The Regional Court in Warsaw accepted the complaint in its entirety and overturned the decision of the District Court, stating that the former is obliged to address the President of the European Parliament in order to initiate the procedure of waiving the Belgian politician's immunity.
"The ruling of the Regional Court means that the process of consent by the European Parliament to the criminal prosecution of Guy Verhofstadt will be initiated in the near future. This decision is welcome, given how alarming was the opinion of the District Court that there is no real legal possibility of instituting criminal proceedings in Poland against a member of the European Parliament under a private complaint procedure. We hope that the Belgian politician will soon be held responsible by the Polish court for unacceptable claims against the black Polish patriot Dr. Bawer Aondo-Akaa and other participants of the Independence March," said Adv. Dr. Bartosz Lewandowski, Director of the Ordo Iuris Centre for Legal Intervention.
On behalf of Ordo Iuris, the case is handled by Adv. Jerzy Kwaśniewski, Adv. Dr. Bartosz Lewandowski and Adv. Filip Wołoszczak.
On February 13, the Court of Appeals in Warsaw overturned an earlier verdict convicting Justyna Wydrzyńska, a well-known abortion activist from the so-called Abortion Dream Team, of assisting in a medical abortion.
In March 2023, the Warsaw-Praga Regional Court had sentenced this activist to community service for giving abortion pills to a woman who was pregnant with twins. It was a high-profile case that was reported in the international media.
03.02.2025
The following updates and adds to an earlier list of violations that was published in October 2024.
31.01.2025
• The European Commission has announced the inclusion of a revised Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online in the Digital Services Act.
© 2016 ORDO IURIS - Instytut Na Rzecz Kultury Prawnej
