Authorities arrest Nazi sympathizers after damning TV report

Polish authorities arrested three people for propagating fascism after a news report showed hidden camera footage of a group of Nazi sympathizers group Pride and Modernity (Duma I Nowoczesność)  celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday last year. The investigators also found fascist paraphernalia, including Nazi uniforms, and that one of the suspects was the leader of the neo-Nazi group, identified only as Mateusz S. The TV report which also showed several links between Mateusz S. and one of the assistants of former Kukiz 15 (now unaffiliated) MP Robert Winnicki sparked controversy, accusing the government of being too soft on far-right movements. The report claimed that it was Winnicki’s intervention that caused the prosecution to withdraw the indictment against members of Pride and Modernity who were accused of plotting a terrorist attack with the use of explosives. The same group was also behind the protest where pictures of a number of MEPs pictures were hung on mock gallows in Katowice. Protesters called the MEPs “traitors” for voting in favor of the European Parliament resolution calling for sanctions against Warsaw over alleged rule of law violations. Police did not intervene. The same group is also one of the organizers of a music festival, which they call “patriotic and nationalist,” while the same TV report showed bands performing songs there with clear fascists messages, and members of the audience doing the Sieg heil salute. The festival received financing from the Internal Ministry. Winnicki denied that his assistant was involved in the “birthday party” and called the incident “petty.” He added however that anyone who „dresses up in a Nazi uniform, or organizes such grotesque event as celebrating Hitler’s birthday can not call himself a member of Polish national community.” After the report, PM Mateusz Morawiecki said that the state would not tolerate any use of totalitarian symbols and he wants to see the neo-Nazi group outlawed, and demanded that the prosecution investigate the allegations made by the report. Several investigations have been launched or reopened since the broadcast. On Sunday, Poland's chief prosecutor launched an investigation into whether the crime of propagating fascism had been committed, which can carry a prison sentence of up to two years.