Trzebnica office of deputy minister Michał Jaros sprayed with anti-Tusk slogans

Vandalism in Trzebnica

Unknown perpetrators defaced a branch of the constituency office of Michał Jaros, a deputy minister of development and technology and Civic Coalition (KO) MP, in Trzebnica, Lower Silesia. The slogans "Ręce precz od Republiki" and "Tusk precz" were sprayed on the window and facade of the building. Jaros said his aides reported the damage to police on the morning of Friday, 13 November, and that surveillance footage was being secured. Police spokesperson Daria Szydłowska said officers carried out the necessary steps at the scene and are working to establish exactly what happened and who is responsible.

Szydłowska described the police response in these terms:

“Police carried out all the necessary actions at the scene, secured the surveillance footage and questioned witnesses.”

Jaros's response

Jaros reacted on social media with a short statement that the paint would be washed off and that his office stays open to people who disagree with him.

“Someone painted my constituency office in Trzebnica. We will wash off the paint. Everyone knows my office is open also to those who disagree with me.”

In an interview with Polsat News he said the paint would be cleaned and called for a very different tone in the national debate. He added that the person responsible seemed to enjoy cameras and television and might end up as the star of this episode, since a surveillance camera had recorded the building. He said he hoped the footage had captured the person who did it.

Prosecutors' probe into TV Republika

The graffiti follows a separate legal dispute involving TV Republika. On 22 October the Szczecin regional prosecutor opened an investigation into conduct on 16 October in Warsaw, in front of the Constitutional Tribunal, after a complaint from Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński. The probe covers three alleged acts: calling on viewers through the channel's programme to share private information about a female police officer and publish it without her consent, broadcasting insulting ticker text and reporter statements about police officers on duty and about Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and threatening officers with unlawful criminal proceedings to make them stop their official duties.

Police action at the broadcaster

On Thursday, 12 November, police from the Szczecin regional headquarters and the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime delivered decisions dated 11 November to Tomasz Sakiewicz, TV Republika's editor-in-chief, demanding materials for the investigation. RMF24 reported that officers also went to the station's headquarters that day with a demand for the broadcast recording and concession documentation. A separate probe by the Kraków regional prosecutor's office, opened on suspicion of defamation, concerns Sakiewicz's on-air remarks after a terrorist attack in Kraków. Polsat News reported that in those remarks he suggested police had been withdrawn from the Kraków market and that foreign nationals were probably involved.

Penalties and open lines of inquiry

Police are treating the case as damage to property but have not ruled out other lines of inquiry. Radio Wrocław cited penalties of 3 months to 5 years in prison where the damage exceeds 800 zloty, and up to 30 days of arrest for smaller damage. TVP Info noted that serious damage to a building can carry up to 5 years in prison. At the time of reporting, the person responsible had not been identified.