Men acquitted over toppling statue of Polish priest suspected of child abuse

Three males have been cleared of wrongdoing after toppling the statue of a former Polish priest suspected of sexually abusing youngsters.

The activists gained prominence by knocking over the effigy of Henryk Jankowski in February 2019.

Jankowski rose to prominence within the Nineteen Eighties by way of his help for the pro-democracy Solidarity motion in opposition to Poland’s communist regime. After his dying in 2010, proof mounted that he had allegedly abused girls and boys throughout his priesthood.

Polish officers initially refused to take down a statue honouring him, earlier than three males selected to behave.

Konrad Korzeniowski, Rafal Suszek, and Michal Wojcieszczuk toppled the statue in the course of the evening and reported themselves to the police, explaining they'd acted for the nice of the group. The transfer was a symbolic second within the historically Catholic nation’s reckoning with clerical abuse.

The three males additionally accused the Polish church of “systemic complicity within the evil executed to individuals by Henryk Jankowski”.

Final yr, a decrease courtroom discovered them responsible of insulting and destroying the monument however selected to not impose a penalty as a result of “low social harmfulness” of the act.

On Monday, the Gdansk district courtroom dominated on enchantment to acquit the three males.

Shipyard staff initially re-erected the statue of Jankowski earlier than metropolis councillors voted to take away it completely and rename the sq..

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