Borrowers lobby group protests after Swiss franc debt suicide
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
12.06.2015 13:16
A borrowers lobby group led a protest in Warsaw on Friday following the death of Polish man who took his own life, allegedly as he was unable to repay a debt in Swiss francs.
A previous demonstration led by Pro Futuris in Warsaw, March 2015. Photo: Facebook/Pro Futuris
Tomasz Sadlik, head of the Pro Futuris Association told the Rzeczpospolita daily that the 35-year-old man's suicide last Thursday is “probably the first death caused by the appreciation of the franc.”
The protest began outside parliament, before moving on to the Attorney-General's office.
When the Swiss National Bank (SNB) unexpectedly declared in January that it would no longer hold the Swiss franc at a fixed exchange rate with the euro, the franc rose sharply in value.
About 550,000 Poles hold Swiss franc mortgages, and lobbyists want Polish authorities to do more to alleviate their burden now that monthly repayments have become considerably heftier.
The 35-year-old man who took his own life had worked as a security guard for a military unit in Bielsko-Biała. He shot himself while on duty.
His mother told Radio Zet that a few months ago the bank began to warn her son that he could soon be evicted from his property.
Meanwhile, the Pro Futuris Association has announced that it is to begin creating an election committee and the structure of a political party, with a general election due this autumn. (nh)