Court rejects chief prosecutor's request regarding Independence March

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.

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 by the Warsaw city hall and the court, the organisers of the Independence March announced the event would still take place. The march is to begin on November 11 at 13:00. The participants are to follow the usual path from Dmowski Roundabout towards the National Stadium.

Last year far-right sympathisers clashed with police at the end of a march that took place in defiance of pandemic restrictions. Planned as a drive through the capital, the event took a different form as thousands of people marched on foot through central Warsaw in addition to those driving.

Private broadcaster Radio Zet was the first to report on the court's decision to reject Prosecutor General's request.