Polish LGBT + activists arrested for "dishonouring" statues

Police in the Polish capital, Warsaw, arrested two LGBT + activists after attaching rainbow flags to statues. According to the police, the monuments have been "dishonoured".
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The two activists have been arrested for "insulting religious feelings and dishonouring monuments." The police wrote on Twitter that more arrests are planned and that it would only be "a matter of time" until the next activist is arrested.

The police action follows after a protest in which several statues in the Polish capital were decorated with rainbow flags, including one of Jesus Christ. The action provoked many outraged reactions from conservative politicians. For example, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had himself photographed while praying to the Jesus statue and called on the Public Prosecution Service to prosecute the perpetrators.

The public prosecutor now appears to be responding to that appeal. The arrests so far have specifically targeted the LGBT+ action group Stop Bzdurom, which coordinated the flag action. The two activists already arrested by the police are both members of this group.

Stop Bzdurom expressly asks on Facebook for the solidarity of others: “We don't always have to agree, but solidarity counts today. Solidarity against state violence. Solidarity against oppression. Solidarity against attempts to intimidate us all - because that is all they want and not so-called "justice". Stop Bzdurom calls on sympathizers outside Poland to organize a support campaign under the Polish embassy.

It is not the first time that a member of Stop Bzodurom has been arrested by the police. At the end of last month, an activist was arrested violently in her own house for vandalizing a van that was spreading anti-gay messages.

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