PiS: Independence March to have an official character

Asked about the Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro's call for "civic disobedience" addressed to the Independence March organisers, the PiS party spokeswoman said that the march would have an official character.

"It's been announced just now that the march will have an official character," Anita Czerwińska said, calling upon participants to mark the occassion with dignity. She added that the march would not lose its civic character, it has had for many years since its conception.

Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Ryszard Terlecki, said on Tuesday that all concerns regarding the event have been alleviated. "Of course the march will take place. All those who will arrive from across the country will be able to take part. We hope there will no provocations or incidents," Terlecki added.

Poland's Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro filed an extraordinary complaint regarding the issue to the Supreme Court on Friday. He demanded the court revoke its ban on registering of the Independence March as a cyclical event.

Ziobro argued in his plea that the court's decision has limited the freedom of assembly guaranteed in the constitution.

Warsaw's Court of Appeals has rejected Ziobro's request, this court's press office announced on Monday.

The event, held annually on November 11, has become a point of friction between far-right groups and supporters of the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on one side, and their liberal opponents, including the Warsaw city hall, on the other.

The association that organises the march had asked for it to be registered as a cyclical event, which would give it priority over other demonstrations. They were granted this status by the regional governor, but the decision was later struck down twice in court.

"The Appeals Court in Warsaw upheld the decision of the court of first instance revoking the region's consent to organise the Independence March as a cyclical assembly," the Warsaw city hall said in a statement.

It also said a previously registered assembly is planned on the same spot, so a second event of this type cannot be organised at the same place and time.

"If the nationalists congregate on November 11, it will be an unlawful assembly," Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski wrote on Twitter.

Despite the negative decisions issued by Warsaw city hall and the court, the organisers of the Independence March said the event would take place anyway. "We are still seeking legal solutions, changing the route being of them," the chief of the Independence March, Robert Bąkiewicz, said on Sunday.

The chief of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, Jan Józef Kasprzyk, announced in a statement on Tuesday that "due to the incomprehensible decision by the Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski", the march would have an official character.

According to the statement, the Independence March participants will follow the "usual route", and later lay wreaths at the bust of Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

Kasprzyk informed that the police, backed by the military police, would be responsible for keeping order.