- Title: Protesters demand Polish Prosecutor General resign over judge trolling scandal
- Date: 26th August 2019
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (MAY 14, 2019) (REUTERS) POLISH PRIME MINISTER MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI AND POLISH JUSTICE MINISTER ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO AT NEWS CONFERENCE ZIOBRO'S HANDS ZIOBRO AND MORAWIECKI ON STAGE
- Embargoed: 9th September 2019 20:56
- Keywords: Poland judiciary Zbigniew Ziobro Polish judge trolling scandal trolling scandal Polish protest
- Location: WARSAW, POLAND
- City: WARSAW, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA002ATUWDVD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Protesters gathered outside the Chancellery of Prime Minister of Poland in Warsaw on Monday (August 26) to demand the resignation of Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro following a report he sought to discredit judges critical of government reforms.
The report has already seen the resignation of Polish Deputy Justice Minister Lukasz Piebiak and opposition politicians have called on Ziobro to also step down, accusing the government of using state structures to discredit critics.
It was the latest in a series of scandals to hit Poland's ruling nationalists - who have come under European Union fire over moves to increase political controls over the judiciary - ahead of elections in October.
The Onet.pl website reported last week that Piebiak was behind a campaign to blackball critical judges including Krystian Markiewicz, a prominent critic of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and head of the judicial association, Iustitia.
It published alleged transcripts of conversations between Piebiak and a woman named as Emilia in which they weighed plans to anonymously send material with rumours about Markiewicz's private life to regional branches of Iustitia and to his home.
Poland's right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party has pushed through a range of reforms since taking power in 2015 that the European Commission and rights groups say jeopardise the rule of law by politicising judicial appointments.
The PiS has argued the changes were needed to improve the efficiency of the courts and rid Poland of residues of Communist rule, which ended three decades ago.
(Production: TVN, Aiden Nulty) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
