Vienna 10/27/2020
Before I report on the events in Warsaw, I would like to tell you about another demonstration that I witnessed, which is also very important.
On Friday, October 23rd, around 9 p.m. in Żoliborz / Warsaw, I encountered a large protest march against the decision of the Constitutional Court to ban abortion.
I wasn’t prepared, so I recorded this march on my cell phone.I chose a short seven-minute film. The entire march I witnessed lasted about an hour in this location.
The video is not the best quality, but you can get an idea of the extent of the protests.
I don’t know Warsaw – if I’m not mistaken, I filmed the march along Adam Mickiewicz Street.
According to my estimates, there were around 300,000 to 500,000 people around me.
It’s worth noting that I came to this place when a lot of people were already passing by. I don’t know when this march began.
Given the number of participants, it was an incomparably larger protest than the next day’s freedom march.
Both protests were about restricting civil rights to determine their own fate.
On Saturday, October 24th, I arrived at Defilad Square half an hour before the scheduled start. I’ve found a new starting point on the internet.
The enormous number of police officers was immediately apparent.
As I later found out, there were about 2,000 police officers gathered there.
Around 10,000 people gathered from unofficial discussions with the police and according to the organizers.
I recorded a video that I posted on rumble.com.
Protestmarsch Warschau Teil 1
Protestmarsch Warschau Teil 2
Protestmarsch Warschau Teil 3
I couldn’t film everything that was important.
In my film, you don’t see the provocateurs throwing stones and bottles at the police.
None of the demonstrators joined the aggression.
As far as I know, the police did not arrest any of these throwers.
We are a peace movement and such actions can only harm the struggle for freedom.
During the period of martial law in Poland (1982), I also took part in demonstrations, but also did not throw anything at the ZOMO units.
Although I took part in a legal, peaceful demonstration against the lawlessness, I was arrested along with 120 others.
I was released after 25 hours. The additional hour resulted from the changeover to winter time.
I would like to emphasize that the police were neutral towards me and other detainees.On the other hand, there was a feeling of sympathy. Not necessarily to support our activities.
I think the people who dealt with criminals every day didn’t really know how to treat us.
Author: Marek Wojcik