Prosecutors look into Radio Maryja 'slanderous comments' against Pres Komorowski

“The prosecutor must first of all listen to the radio programmme [in which hate speech was allegedly used against president Komorowski], the content of which is known only via a newspaper article. The case involves possible slander against the president,” a spokesperson of the District Prosecutor's Office in Toruń, Artur Krause, said.

The case concerns the broadcasts of the Toruń-based religious station Radio Maryja, which took place on the night between Monday to Tuesday.

According to the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, the broadcast's starting point was a letter from Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki criticising the president for signing a law on in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Later the issue was commented upon during a phone-in co-hosted by the head of the Radio Maryja station Fr. Tadeusz Rydzyk.

It was at this point, Gazeta Wyborcza reported, that president Komorowski was slandered. One listener said that Komorowski needs only “fix his moustache. He is worse than Hitler”.

The IVF bill was heavily opposed by the Polish catholic church and the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS).

Fr. Tadeusz Rydzyk, the director of the Radio Maryja station, is a controversial figure in Poland. In the past he was accused by critics of having a too close working and political relationship with Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of the PiS party. (rg/rk)