The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger took a swipe at the Polish government's judicial overhaul at a concert in Warsaw on Sunday, adding his voice to a chorus of critics who say the changes go against democratic standards.
The concert took place as new laws force into early retirement the head of Poland's Supreme Court, Małgorzata Gersdorf, who is 65.
This is the latest in many changes to the judiciary enacted since 2016, which the ruling nationalists say are needed to rid Poland of its lingering communist legacy.
The European Union, rights groups, international bodies and the domestic opposition decry these moves as putting courts and judges under more political control.
"This is not freedom"
A few days ago, former Polish president Lech Wałęsa sent a letter to the Rolling Stones in which he asked them to join in the protest in defense of Polish judiciary independence.
Mr Wałęsa wrote: "The current regime wants to destroy the independence of courts in Poland. Last year, it incapacitated the Constitutional Court. Now, in clear violation of the Constitution, it is firing a third of Supreme Court judges in order to install their puppets,"
"Many people in Poland are defending freedom, but they need support. If you can say or do anything while in Poland, it would really mean something to them," Lech Wałęsa asked Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. On Monday, former Polish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate thanked the Rolling Stones for their support. "True Solidarity will always win," wrote Lech Wałęsa on his official Twitter account.
I would like to thank Sir Mick Jagger @MickJagger and the band of The Rolling Stones @RollingStones for he reminded himself for Poland, for our rule of law.
— Lech Wałęsa (@PresidentWalesa) 9 lipca 2018
True Solidarity will always win.
Lech Wałęsa.
"Young enough to sing"
"I am too old to be a judge," Jagger, who is 74, said in Polish to the audience gathered at Warsaw's national soccer stadium. "But I am young enough to sing."
Poland overthrew communism in 1989, breaking away from the Soviet system imposed after World War Two, before the Berlin Wall fell several months later.
Poland joined the EU in 2004, becoming the largest ex-communist member of the bloc and a poster-child for peaceful democratic transition in Europe's east.
But its reputation has been damaged under the rule of the Law and Justice (PiS) party amid controversy over upholding the rule of law.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, Reuters