On Tuesday, January 31, at 11:15 a.m., an appeal hearing will be held in the trial of Pastor Pawel Chojecki, editor-in-chief of Against the Tide TV. The pastor of the New Covenant Church in Lublin is on trial for words – a few sentences from sermons and other programs aired on the web TV he runs, which were disliked by a group of hecklers and the Law and Justice party prosecution. The pastor was charged with insulting the religious feelings of Catholics, insulting Catholic objects of religious reverence, praising the launch of a forward war against communist North Korea, and insulting the Polish Nation and the President of Poland. The prosecution is seeking a prison sentence. If the Court of Appeals in Lublin convicts the pastor, there is no longer any possibility of appeal in Poland.
The court of first instance sentenced Pastor Chojecki to eight months of restriction of liberty in the form of community service. In addition, the pastor is to pay for the costs of the proceedings in the amount of nearly PLN 21,000.
Pastor Pawel Chojecki has repeatedly argued to the court that he did not mean to insult President Duda, for whom, by the way, he once voted, but constructive criticism to make the head of state reflect and fulfill his election promises. In his pre-Christmas program “Will Pastor Chojecki Apologize to President Duda?” on Against the Tide TV, Pastor Chojecki apologized to the president for the harsh words he used against him and acknowledged that given how President Duda is acting now, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he would no longer call him a coward.
Regarding accusations of insulting the religious feelings of Catholics, Pastor Chojecki points out that as a Protestant he criticizes the dogmas of the Catholic Church, pointing out that they are incompatible with the Bible. As for the accusations of insulting Catholic objects of religious reverence, it must be stressed that these accusations are also about words – there has been no real insulting of objects of Catholic reverence. The other charges the pastor calls bizarre.
Four appeals have been filed to the verdict of the court of the first instance. In Pastor Chojecki’s defense, the law firm of legal counsel Adam Wroblewski, the law firm of attorney Andrzej Sawicki and the law firm of attorney Andrzej Turczyn filed an appeal. An appeal was also filed by prosecutor Katarzyna Urban, demanding a prison sentence!
The address of the court where the hearing will be held:
Court of Appeals in Lublin
II Criminal Division
1 Obrońców Pokoju Street
20-950 Lublin
Who are the accusers of Pastor Pawel Chojecki?
Some of them are facing criminal proceedings for harassing the pastor, his family, and the New Covenant Church in Lublin. They didn’t even spare the pastor’s grandson, calling him the “Antichrist.” They poured fecal matter on the Church’s headquarters and incited physical violence against the pastor. They run insulting websites for the environment of Against the Tide Television, which often contain threats and criminal threats against members of the editorial staff.
One of the accusers was found guilty by the court of insulting Jews; anti-Semitic phrases were included in the titles of materials they submitted to the prosecutor’s office, and one of the accusers wrote anti-Semitic books (“It is surprising that during such a prestigious cultural event as the Historical Book Fair, publications of an anti-Semitic nature were promoted, including Ritual Murder in Rzeszow? A Historical Investigation or Wise Men of Zion – A New Opening by Radoslaw Patlewicz,” WP Books). There is also anti-Ukrainian content in the comments of this community.
Who is Pastor Chojecki?
Pastor Pawel Chojecki. He was raised as an atheist. However, in adulthood, he decided to become a Christian. Today he is the pastor and founder of the New Covenant Church in Lublin, as well as the creator and editor-in-chief of the web TV, magazine, and publishing house “Against the Tide”.
SEE WHAT A SUNDAY IN NEW COVENANT CHURCH LUBLIN LOOKS LIKE [turn on ENG SUB]
In 1986, Pawel Chojecki made the most pivotal decision of his life: “I realized that Jesus died on the Cross to pay the penalty for my sins […]. God said in the Bible that I could not earn salvation with good deeds, that the one who could save me was Jesus alone […]. My wife and I asked Jesus to save us here and now.”
Who really is pastor Paweł Chojecki?
