OSCE slams Poland over 'criminal sanction' for insulting President Komorowski

Screenshot of antykomor.pl

“In a modern democracy criminal sanctions for insulting heads of state are out of place, especially since the European Court of Human Rights has for decades overturned such verdicts,” stated Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, in a press release on Tuesday.

Mijatovic's criticisms come four days after 26-year-old Robert Frycz (right to anonymity waived by the defendant), was sentenced to 15 months of community service for insulting the president.

Frycz was the creator of Antykomor.pl web site, which hosts games such as Komor Kiler' (Komor Killer), in which users can fire virtual vegetables at the president.

“Due to the nature of their work, public officials must tolerate a greater degree of criticism and satirical remarks than ordinary individuals,” Mijatovic stressed.

“Despite growing international recognition that people should not be criminally prosecuted for defamation, the Polish Constitutional Court in 2011 maintained Article 135 of the Criminal Code under which Frycz was sentenced,” she affirmed.

“I hope that a second instance court will revise this sentence,” she said.

“I call on the Polish authorities to take immediate steps to decriminalize defamation completely,” Mijatovic concluded. (nh)